A sense of betrayal
by ImagiNomi
Summary: When the heir to CrystalTech, Noctis was 14 he ran away from his home in Lucis. Whilst running he met up with Ardyn Izunia, a researcher for MagiMite. Now at twenty, Noctis, and his friend Prompto have to return to Lucis - however, Prompto harbours some secrets that reveal that not everything is as it seems and Noctis has to make a choice. His old family or his new.
1. Chapter 1

**Full Summary:** In a world where a disease called StarScourge turns those infected into daemons, there are two companies at war with each other. CrystalTech strives to find a cure, helping those in need and researching to get a better understanding of the disease. MagiMite strives to rid the world of StarScourge by hunting and destroying the daemon population.

Noctis, heir to CrystalTech has been groomed since birth. When his father passed away, the company fell into the hands of his father's best friend. At 14 Noctis hears of a plan for him to marry someone he's never met. Hurt and betrayed by the people he thought of as family, Noctis runs away.

Onboard a passenger train bound for Gralea, 14-year-old run-away, Noct, meets a researcher from MagiMite with red-violet hair. Immediately captivated by the strange man Noct joins his family of Daemon Hunters and soon forgets the other life he left behind.

7 years later, a mission to Lucis reminds Noct of a young boy called Noctis and his reasoning for escape, however with the daemon population steadily increasing as the years go by, it might be worthwhile for Noct to forget his betrayal in favour of protecting those he loves.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello! Sorry for the lengthy summary or book blurb lol. Welcome to a Sense of Betrayal :)

Special thanks go to - Spirit_Muse for their help with German translations. Nocturnal_Raine for their (probably unknowing) help with coming up with this story. My sister for being my beta despite the fact that she doesn't love (or even like) FFXV as much as I do. To you guys for taking a chance and reading this and to the whole Chill XV discord group.

Right enough said, and with a friendly reminder about the fact that I own nothing - I encourage you to enjoy and let me know what you think :)

* * *

The phone ringing brought Ignis Scientia out of his slumber much earlier than he would have liked. As personal assistant to both Clarus Amictia and Cor Leonis, joint presidents of CrystalTech Reseach, his alarm was set for 6.30 every day, however, he usually woke before it. When he glanced at the clock on the way to picking up his phone he saw it read 5.45. Slightly more awake at the prospect of it being his boss, he grasped his phone in his hand and struggled to sit up, something stopping him.

A quick glance down at the arm wrapped around his waist told him that his partner was still asleep despite the high pitched ring cutting through the room. De-tangling himself from the arm, he finally sat up and slipped his glasses onto his face. Once settled he glanced down at the display of his phone.

_Noctis_

Noctis. How long had it been since he'd heard his voice? How long had it been since he'd seen his face? They'd had no word in the six-plus years he'd been away. Ignis had texted him, little messages of encouragement, a happy birthday, a plea to call, but in all instances, the messages had been read but not responded to. Now he was here and calling him. There was a dread of panic, had something happened? Was he lying in a hospital somewhere and they'd gone down his phone to find a next of kin or a contact? Or was it something else, did he need money?

"Babe, are you going to answer that?" Ignis started, the phone still ringing softly in his hand. Gladiolus Amictia, his partner of five years and son of Clarus, had woken up and propped himself up on an elbow, sleepily glancing at Ignis and the phone in his hand.

Pushing all thoughts aside, Ignis nodded slightly before answering the call.

"Noctis?"

The voice on the other end of the line was definitely not Noctis. It was more high pitched and slightly accented, Lucian not being his native tongue. " _Hi, err no, my names not Noctis. But I'm a friend of Noct, so I assume he's the same guy... Anyway, I found this number stored on his phone and thought I'd give this a try. Hehe, shit, he's going to kill me when he finds out but err… yeah…_ "

Ignis raised an eyebrow, the kid sounded both nervous yet excited. He was also rambling which wasn't helping the horrible sinking feeling in Ignis' gut. Gladio sat up next to him, crossing his legs as he looked at Ignis questionably.

"Where is Noctis? Is he okay?" Ignis tried to keep his voice steady. Had he been kidnapped, was this someone's idea of a ransom note?

" _Yeah he's fine, I mean I stole his phone and snuck outside. The sun is gonna rise soon and it's like really pretty, is the sun rising where you are?_ _Scheiße, ich bin schlecht darin …"_

The kid was rambling again, and speaking in Nifillian.

"Where is Noctis," Ignis repeated, adding more force to his voice.

" _Right, err, he's inside. Sleeping because it's not even 6 am and we worked late last night. He's not dead if that's what your asking heh, he's most definitely alive, and snoring… I can put the phone in his room if you want proof of his snoring, but then I'd rather he didn't know I'd stolen his phone."_ The kid sighed deeply. " _Look at me rambling, look this is a bad idea, but I thought you might be able to help us. You see, er well, I was kinda hoping you could contact Crystal... no, wait this coming out wrong... Akk.._ _Scheiße.._ _Look sorry for waking you, this was a really bad idea and I'd really appreciate it if you didn't call back or you know to mention this to Noct or anything…"_ The was the yell of another voice away from the caller and the phone but still able to be picked up by Ignis.

 _"Prompto! Komm herein!"  
_

 _"Ja! Yes,_ _I'm coming!"_ The kid responded. " _Look I gotta go, I'm sorry!_ " There was another shout before the line went dead, leaving Ignis to stare incredulously at his phone.

"What was that about?" Gladio asked after Ignis had put his phone down and removed his glasses to rub his eyes.

"I honestly don't know," Ignis sighed. It hadn't been Noctis, but it had been someone who knew him, could give them a little hope at least. It also gave them a rough location of where their friend had been, they'd been too busy focusing on searching within Insomnia and then Lucis, they'd never thought to look out with Lucis altogether. He smiled softly at Gladio and ran a hand through his hair. Maybe this was progress. What did concern him was the kid's request to speak to CrystalTech if that what the kid was going to say. What did he want with them?

* * *

Prompto hung up the phone and shoved it into his back pocket his heart hammering. Why had that been so hard? He'd rehearsed what he wanted to say over and over for the better part of an hour, however when he'd heard the highly educated voice on the other side, all he wanted to say had gone flying out his head, he'd even struggled to speak Lucian. He groaned frustrated to himself before clambering up the front steps of the ramshackle building they called home.

"Alright? Coffee's ready!" a voice called from the kitchen as he entered. It was the same voice that had been calling him inside, putting a halt in his plans. Prompto stomped the snow off his boots and made his way through the living area. A female with brown wispy hair looked questionably at him whilst she nursed a coffee. He shook his head, failure apparent on his face. He'd explain to her later. The owner of the voice, a broad shoulder male with long brown hair, named Libertus, gestured to an empty space at the table, a mug of coffee just waiting to be drunk, but Prompto shook his head. He waved indifferently and instead started climbing up the stairs to the first floor of the building. He stopped at the top and before he pushed the door open to the room he shared with Noct, he pulled the phone out of his pocket and deleted the call history and the 50 draft messages he'd tried to send previously. Satisfied there was no trace of what he had been trying to achieve on the phone, he instead pulled up a game and navigated to the main menu before pushing open the door.

Surprisingly Noct was awake, pillows propped up against the headboard as he absentmindedly stroked the cat on his lap, a faint glow of dawn peered through the curtains and Prompto swallowed nervously as he shuffled into the room.

"You're up early," he said sheepishly, pulling off his boots and sticking them under the bed with all their other shoes.

"You leaving, made the bed cold," Noct said sleepily and in Lucian. When Noct had first arrived in Gralea, 14, silent and a bit spoilt, he didn't know a word of Nifillian. He'd learnt it, slowly and rather crudely, even now he wasn't fluent and he most certainly wouldn't be presented to the emperor with his language skills but it was enough to get by in shops or their social circles. Around the house, they all spoke Nifillian if Noct was tired or couldn't be bothered (which was more often than not) he would slip back into Lucian.

"Ah, sorry."

"What are you doing up so early, and have you seen my phone?" Noct turned to him a little more awake now and Prompto blushed.

"Couldn't sleep," he muttered before handing the phone over to Noct.

"Ah ha! Caught red-handed," Noct exclaimed reclaiming his phone and seeing the menu screen of the game Prompto had switched to moments before. The cat meowed at the sudden movement, walked off Noct's legs and curled up at the bottom of the bed instead.

A small sigh of relief escaped his lips. Noct didn't talk about his old life that much, but Prompto had seen the texts that came through on major holidays, seen the way he'd hide the phone quickly or drift off in thought. So admitting to Noct that he'd tried calling his old family, for help with a matter Prompto hadn't even discussed with him, was something Prompto didn't want to face. It was disheartening to see sometimes, the majority of their house, their group were all orphans; refugees from Galahd or like Prompto, plucked from the slums of Gralea to be given a better life. Noct came from Lucis, and not only that, from the crown city of Lucis. But the first rule of their house was to not ask questions, so Prompto never did, no matter how much he wanted to learn.

A hand pressed over the top of his and he looked down, he'd been worrying at the band on his right wrist, a habit that happened when nervous or shy. It was an old threadbare thing, black and could quite have possibly been a headband but it served its purpose in covering what was underneath.

He looked up into to find blue eyes boring into him concernedly, the phone lay forgotten on the bedspread beside him.

"Prom you alright?" He asked in haltered Nifillian.

Prompto broke the eye contact and tried to worry at the fabric again, but Noct's hands were holding them firmly in place. Filled with the need to fidget or do something, he instead started biting the inside of his cheek. Now would be the perfect time to tell him.

A cool hand grasped his chin softly and pulled his head up to resume the eye contact. They were searching, calculating and the blueish eyes he'd ever seen on a non-niff.

"Prom _,_ tell me. What's wrong _?"_

He could tell him, couldn't he? Noct loved him and wouldn't think any different of him right? But then again he'd tried to tell Noct's friends and that hadn't gone so well. Why was he such a failure? He wormed his hands out of Noct's grasp and fingered the fabric once more. He took a deep breath, still maintaining eye contact and started to remove the fabric.

"Yo! Tureltauben! Ardyn's here with breakfast!" Libertus' voice carried up the stairs, amusement laced in as if thought something else was happening. Prompto sighed, the moment was lost, Noct dropped his hand from Prompto's chin and rubbed his eyes sleepily. Prompto hastily covered up his wrist once more before standing up and quickly left the room to wash his face.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm hoping all will become clear, I realise I'm leaving you guys in the dark as much as the characters lol. Just a small note worth mentioning:

Nifillian = German, Tenebrean = French, Galahdian = Spanish, Accordian = Italian

This is just my headcanon. None of it is confirmed, but I felt like each country needed it's own language to add to the modernity of the story I'm creating. I also don't claim to be fluent in any of these languages so those times where I do write the language I apologise for grammar and the awful translation. The majority of the time if the characters are speaking a different language I will state somewhere what language they are speaking, hopefully, it will be easy to work out. We're also pretending that Galahd is it's own country like Accordo and Lucis and not a city or a region :D

Quick Translations:  
Scheiße, ich bin schlecht darin - Shit, I'm bad at this (Prompto on the phone to Ignis)  
Komm herein - Come in (Libertus to Prompto after the phone call)  
Tureltauben - Lovebirds (Libertus again :) )


	2. Chapter 2

**Full Summary:** In a world where a disease called StarScourge turns those infected into daemons, there are two companies at war with each other. CrystalTech strives to find a cure, helping those in need and researching to get a better understanding of the disease. MagiMite strives to rid the world of StarScourge by hunting and destroying the daemon population.

Noctis, heir to CrystalTech has been groomed since birth. When his father passed away, the company fell into the hands of his father's best friend. At 14 Noctis hears of a plan for him to marry someone he's never met. Hurt and betrayed by the people he thought of as family, Noctis runs away.

Onboard a passenger train bound for Gralea, 14-year-old run-away, Noct, meets a researcher from MagiMite with red-violet hair. Immediately captivated by the strange man Noct joins his family of Daemon Hunters and soon forgets the other life he left behind.

7 years later, a mission to Lucis reminds Noct of a young boy called Noctis and his reasoning for escape, however with the daemon population steadily increasing as the years go by, it might be worthwhile for Noct to forget his betrayal in favour of protecting those he loves.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello! Sorry for the lengthy summary or book blurb lol. Welcome to a Sense of Betrayal :)

Special thanks go to - Spirit_Muse for their help with German translations. Nocturnal_Raine for their (probably unknowing) help with coming up with this story. My sister for being my beta despite the fact that she doesn't love (or even like) FFXV as much as I do. To you guys for taking a chance and reading this and to the whole Chill XV discord group.

Right enough said, and with a friendly reminder about the fact that I own nothing - I encourage you to enjoy and let me know what you think :)

* * *

The phone ringing brought Ignis Scientia out of his slumber much earlier than he would have liked. As personal assistant to both Clarus Amictia and Cor Leonis, joint presidents of CrystalTech Reseach, his alarm was set for 6.30 every day, however, he usually woke before it. When he glanced at the clock on the way to picking up his phone he saw it read 5.45. Slightly more awake at the prospect of it being his boss, he grasped his phone in his hand and struggled to sit up, something stopping him.

A quick glance down at the arm wrapped around his waist told him that his partner was still asleep despite the high pitched ring cutting through the room. De-tangling himself from the arm, he finally sat up and slipped his glasses onto his face. Once settled he glanced down at the display of his phone.

_Noctis_

Noctis. How long had it been since he'd heard his voice? How long had it been since he'd seen his face? They'd had no word in the six-plus years he'd been away. Ignis had texted him, little messages of encouragement, a happy birthday, a plea to call, but in all instances, the messages had been read but not responded to. Now he was here and calling him. There was a dread of panic, had something happened? Was he lying in a hospital somewhere and they'd gone down his phone to find a next of kin or a contact? Or was it something else, did he need money?

"Babe, are you going to answer that?" Ignis started, the phone still ringing softly in his hand. Gladiolus Amictia, his partner of five years and son of Clarus, had woken up and propped himself up on an elbow, sleepily glancing at Ignis and the phone in his hand.

Pushing all thoughts aside, Ignis nodded slightly before answering the call.

"Noctis?"

The voice on the other end of the line was definitely not Noctis. It was more high pitched and slightly accented, Lucian not being his native tongue. " _Hi, err no, my names not Noctis. But I'm a friend of Noct, so I assume he's the same guy... Anyway, I found this number stored on his phone and thought I'd give this a try. Hehe, shit, he's going to kill me when he finds out but err… yeah…_ "

Ignis raised an eyebrow, the kid sounded both nervous yet excited. He was also rambling which wasn't helping the horrible sinking feeling in Ignis' gut. Gladio sat up next to him, crossing his legs as he looked at Ignis questionably.

"Where is Noctis? Is he okay?" Ignis tried to keep his voice steady. Had he been kidnapped, was this someone's idea of a ransom note?

" _Yeah he's fine, I mean I stole his phone and snuck outside. The sun is gonna rise soon and it's like really pretty, is the sun rising where you are?_ _Scheiße, ich bin schlecht darin …"_

The kid was rambling again, and speaking in Nifillian.

"Where is Noctis," Ignis repeated, adding more force to his voice.

" _Right, err, he's inside. Sleeping because it's not even 6 am and we worked late last night. He's not dead if that's what your asking heh, he's most definitely alive, and snoring… I can put the phone in his room if you want proof of his snoring, but then I'd rather he didn't know I'd stolen his phone."_ The kid sighed deeply. " _Look at me rambling, look this is a bad idea, but I thought you might be able to help us. You see, er well, I was kinda hoping you could contact Crystal... no, wait this coming out wrong... Akk.._ _Scheiße.._ _Look sorry for waking you, this was a really bad idea and I'd really appreciate it if you didn't call back or you know to mention this to Noct or anything…"_ The was the yell of another voice away from the caller and the phone but still able to be picked up by Ignis.

 _"Prompto! Komm herein!"  
_

 _"Ja! Yes,_ _I'm coming!"_ The kid responded. " _Look I gotta go, I'm sorry!_ " There was another shout before the line went dead, leaving Ignis to stare incredulously at his phone.

"What was that about?" Gladio asked after Ignis had put his phone down and removed his glasses to rub his eyes.

"I honestly don't know," Ignis sighed. It hadn't been Noctis, but it had been someone who knew him, could give them a little hope at least. It also gave them a rough location of where their friend had been, they'd been too busy focusing on searching within Insomnia and then Lucis, they'd never thought to look out with Lucis altogether. He smiled softly at Gladio and ran a hand through his hair. Maybe this was progress. What did concern him was the kid's request to speak to CrystalTech if that what the kid was going to say. What did he want with them?

* * *

Prompto hung up the phone and shoved it into his back pocket his heart hammering. Why had that been so hard? He'd rehearsed what he wanted to say over and over for the better part of an hour, however when he'd heard the highly educated voice on the other side, all he wanted to say had gone flying out his head, he'd even struggled to speak Lucian. He groaned frustrated to himself before clambering up the front steps of the ramshackle building they called home.

"Alright? Coffee's ready!" a voice called from the kitchen as he entered. It was the same voice that had been calling him inside, putting a halt in his plans. Prompto stomped the snow off his boots and made his way through the living area. A female with brown wispy hair looked questionably at him whilst she nursed a coffee. He shook his head, failure apparent on his face. He'd explain to her later. The owner of the voice, a broad shoulder male with long brown hair, named Libertus, gestured to an empty space at the table, a mug of coffee just waiting to be drunk, but Prompto shook his head. He waved indifferently and instead started climbing up the stairs to the first floor of the building. He stopped at the top and before he pushed the door open to the room he shared with Noct, he pulled the phone out of his pocket and deleted the call history and the 50 draft messages he'd tried to send previously. Satisfied there was no trace of what he had been trying to achieve on the phone, he instead pulled up a game and navigated to the main menu before pushing open the door.

Surprisingly Noct was awake, pillows propped up against the headboard as he absentmindedly stroked the cat on his lap, a faint glow of dawn peered through the curtains and Prompto swallowed nervously as he shuffled into the room.

"You're up early," he said sheepishly, pulling off his boots and sticking them under the bed with all their other shoes.

"You leaving, made the bed cold," Noct said sleepily and in Lucian. When Noct had first arrived in Gralea, 14, silent and a bit spoilt, he didn't know a word of Nifillian. He'd learnt it, slowly and rather crudely, even now he wasn't fluent and he most certainly wouldn't be presented to the emperor with his language skills but it was enough to get by in shops or their social circles. Around the house, they all spoke Nifillian if Noct was tired or couldn't be bothered (which was more often than not) he would slip back into Lucian.

"Ah, sorry."

"What are you doing up so early, and have you seen my phone?" Noct turned to him a little more awake now and Prompto blushed.

"Couldn't sleep," he muttered before handing the phone over to Noct.

"Ah ha! Caught red-handed," Noct exclaimed reclaiming his phone and seeing the menu screen of the game Prompto had switched to moments before. The cat meowed at the sudden movement, walked off Noct's legs and curled up at the bottom of the bed instead.

A small sigh of relief escaped his lips. Noct didn't talk about his old life that much, but Prompto had seen the texts that came through on major holidays, seen the way he'd hide the phone quickly or drift off in thought. So admitting to Noct that he'd tried calling his old family, for help with a matter Prompto hadn't even discussed with him, was something Prompto didn't want to face. It was disheartening to see sometimes, the majority of their house, their group were all orphans; refugees from Galahd or like Prompto, plucked from the slums of Gralea to be given a better life. Noct came from Lucis, and not only that, from the crown city of Lucis. But the first rule of their house was to not ask questions, so Prompto never did, no matter how much he wanted to learn.

A hand pressed over the top of his and he looked down, he'd been worrying at the band on his right wrist, a habit that happened when nervous or shy. It was an old threadbare thing, black and could quite have possibly been a headband but it served its purpose in covering what was underneath.

He looked up into to find blue eyes boring into him concernedly, the phone lay forgotten on the bedspread beside him.

"Prom you alright?" He asked in haltered Nifillian.

Prompto broke the eye contact and tried to worry at the fabric again, but Noct's hands were holding them firmly in place. Filled with the need to fidget or do something, he instead started biting the inside of his cheek. Now would be the perfect time to tell him.

A cool hand grasped his chin softly and pulled his head up to resume the eye contact. They were searching, calculating and the blueish eyes he'd ever seen on a non-niff.

"Prom _,_ tell me. What's wrong _?"_

He could tell him, couldn't he? Noct loved him and wouldn't think any different of him right? But then again he'd tried to tell Noct's friends and that hadn't gone so well. Why was he such a failure? He wormed his hands out of Noct's grasp and fingered the fabric once more. He took a deep breath, still maintaining eye contact and started to remove the fabric.

"Yo! Tureltauben! Ardyn's here with breakfast!" Libertus' voice carried up the stairs, amusement laced in as if thought something else was happening. Prompto sighed, the moment was lost, Noct dropped his hand from Prompto's chin and rubbed his eyes sleepily. Prompto hastily covered up his wrist once more before standing up and quickly left the room to wash his face.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm hoping all will become clear, I realise I'm leaving you guys in the dark as much as the characters lol. Just a small note worth mentioning:

Nifillian = German, Tenebrean = French, Galahdian = Spanish, Accordian = Italian

This is just my headcanon. None of it is confirmed, but I felt like each country needed it's own language to add to the modernity of the story I'm creating. I also don't claim to be fluent in any of these languages so those times where I do write the language I apologise for grammar and the awful translation. The majority of the time if the characters are speaking a different language I will state somewhere what language they are speaking, hopefully, it will be easy to work out. We're also pretending that Galahd is it's own country like Accordo and Lucis and not a city or a region :D

Quick Translations:  
Scheiße, ich bin schlecht darin - Shit, I'm bad at this (Prompto on the phone to Ignis)  
Komm herein - Come in (Libertus to Prompto after the phone call)  
Tureltauben - Lovebirds (Libertus again :) )


	3. Chapter 3

If he ever met this Prompto guy, Gladio was seriously going to teach the kid how to read a watch or at least add some settings so he couldn't use his phone after a certain time. Sure this time he hadn't woken anyone up, but 2.30am (regardless of the fact it was a Saturday night) was still too late, or too early to be calling a complete stranger. He was lucky they were still up and awake, Gladio having finally pulled Ignis away from the stack of paperwork he had brought home with him and gotten his boyfriend of five years to have a quiet night in with a movie and a glass (bottle) of wine.

It was during the credits of the movie that Prompto had rung, Gladio had disappeared into the Kitchen to place their wine glasses in the dishwasher and to dispose of the wine bottle when he'd heard Ignis' business voice answering his phone.

"Prompto wasn't it?" Gladio returned to the living area and motioned for Ignis to put the phone on loud-speaker so they could both listen in. He'd heard from Ignis about the last call and was curious to hear this one for himself.

" _Yes sir,_ " The voice was hushed, almost as if he was whispering to avoid detection. There was a lot of background noise, almost like a train.

"Are you on a train?"

There was a pause. " _At a station, that's why I'm calling you._ " Another pause. " _Listen, Noct doesn't really talk about you but when you text him he get's this really far-away look on his face like he's remembering. something He doesn't think we notice, but we do._ "

Gladio and Ignis shared a look, that was something at least. That he still thought about them.

" _And I thought, well actually it was Crowe's idea, that since we're going to be in Lucis, we could arrange to somehow "bump" into you, like make it completely accident like. He'll never know hehe. But it also gives me chance to say what I wanted to say…_ " He paused again, the line crackling slightly. " _The reception is shit here. Niflheim isn't very good with setting up cell receptors so if I leave suddenly it's because of that. Ah, I got distracted again…. Are you even still there? Or did you hang up and I'm acting like plebe talking to myself?_ "

"I'm still here Prompto," Ignis said reassuringly and there was a sigh of relief. "You pose an interesting proposition. What are your plans whilst in Lucis?

" _Well, we have to pick up something from someplace. Ha, that's not very descriptive, is it? Noct has all the details, but after that, we go to a place call Lestallum and meet some people, gather some stuff. We are, basically, glorified errand boys. We're travelling now - takes two days to get to Magna Fortia as there's an overnight in Cartanica - that's where we are now, Cartanica. Then a ferry to Altissa before another ferry to Gulpin…_ "

"Galdin" Ignis automatically corrected, Gladio grinned. He'd grabbed a pen and paper from the table and started taking notes as Prompto told them their plans.

" _Yeah, then Noct said it's about a two-hour drive to Hammerhead. Where we're staying the night before heading off to some sewers near the capital. I thought Hammerhead would be an ideal place to conveniently meet you. According to Libertus, there's a garage there or something - I dunno…_ "

"Sewers near Insomnia?"

" _Yeah, the boss wants some whiskers from a snake - I dunno. You could probably ask Noct about it. Ardyn gave him all the details._ "

By this point Ignis had gone as white as a sheet, his hands visibly shaking, if it weren't for the fact that the phone was on the coffee table, Gladio could have sworn he would have dropped that as well. He reached over to clasp one of Ignis' shaking hands.

"Ardyn Izunia?" Ignis' voice was remarkably steady considering the amount of shaking the rest of his body was doing.

" _Yeah, he's like our handler. I suppose. I think that's the word for it, he's like our go-to. He gives us our hunts, extra missions. We check in with him. He also found us all, trained us. He's alright… when he's in a good mood,_ " There was a nervous laugh, before his tone got serious again. " _He's one of the reasons why I want to meet you. Like don't get me wrong Ardyn is a great guy, he's like this researcher at MagiMite and what they're doing is really admirable with trying to heal the world, but… well, Crowe and I are starting to have doubts you know. Something's not right and we worry for Noct. He's always been the closest to Ardyn, looks up to him, admires him…_ "

Ignis gripped Gladio's hand tighter. Gladio wasn't privy to the inner workings of CrystalTech like Ignis was, he was just a glorified bodyguard - redundant now his main charge was in a different country, relegated to security work. He was shadowing his dad on the side, ready to take over, but nothing that would give him information about what Ignis probably knew.

"Okay Prompto, I want you to listen to me. I've heard of Izunia and in fact MagiMite. How much do you know of Noctis past?"

" _Not much, as I said we don't ask questions. Nyx just thought he was some trust fund kid that got fed up with other people running his life and so he ran away to try and live a life a luxury, somewhere he could sit and lay in bed and play video games all day._ " Prompto laughed. " _Noct got the shock of his life when he got here and was forced to learn Nifillian and get up at 5 am every morning for weapons training before hunting every night. Not exactly the lap of luxury he probably envisioned, but he never moaned."_

Gladio didn't know whether to laugh or get angry at Prompto's comment, the overall feeling was pride. The lazy idiot finally got himself out of bed and did something useful, he'd learnt a new language, he was fighting, probably better than he did when Gladio was teaching him self-defence. There was a little bit of hurt there, and judging by Ignis face, he was probably feeling the same thing. There was a feeling of disappointment, not in Noctis but in themselves. The realisation that they hadn't been there to see these milestones.

"Noctis was… is the heir to CrystalTech Research. He left us, quite suddenly one night after hearing his guardian and myself discuss his plans for the future. Universities, Work Experience through the different Departments so he could be prepared when the time came to take over. We were also discussing," Ignis took a deep breath and Gladio put down the pen he was holding so as to reach out and hold onto Ignis with both of his hands. He knew this was hard for Ignis to talk about, he still felt to blame. "Future marriage prospects, heirs to the company…"

They heard Prompto suck in a breath. " _Ah, makes sense as to why he'd leave if he overheard all of that…_ "

"Indeed, we hadn't realised he had overheard until the next day when I went to wake him up to take him school and he wasn't there. Instead, there was a note, explaining that he was off to lead his own life and didn't need us to rule over him. We started looking immediately, but it was too late." Ignis let out a breathy shudder and Gladio shifted along the couch to pull him into a hug.

" _Es tut mir leid_ ," Prompto said, which Gladio took to mean as an apology. Ignis was the language expert, Gladio had taken and failed Tenebrean in school.

"You weren't to know, but it would be very nice to meet Noctis again, even if is to clear the air. Of course what you have to say concerns us as well. It's disconcerting that Noctis had gotten close to a direct competitor.

" _Ah, CrystalTech is the same as MagiMite right? Both trying to cure the StarScourge and make the world a better place?_ "

"To an extent, we've heard reports that MagiMite is less than savoury. It would great to have an insider assuage our fears…"

" _Yeah…_ " A nervous chuckle, then a pause that did nothing to sway what Gladio and Ignis were feeling after hearing how close Noctis was to Izunia. " _Well, I suppose I should try and get some sleep. We're in this disused train car that's converted into a resting area. Says Leville on the side, but Noctis assures me that the real Leville is much swankier - his word, but I assume that means it's nice._ "

"Do you need picking up when you get into Galdin?"

" _Nah, Noct can drive. I can drive as well but I'm not allowed to, not after I crashed Ardyn's car into a ditch because I saw a puppy on the side of the road and I swerved to not hit it, then rushed out to help it cross the road…_ "

Gladio would have snorted in laughter had he not watching Ignis face fall at the prospect of not being the one to teach Noctis to drive.

"What times your train tomorrow?"

" _8 am - getting Noct up is not going to be easy, but I suppose someone's got to do. You probably know what I mean right - between that and his hate for vegetables is astonishing to believe he turns 21 this year_."

Ignis allowed himself a little chuckle, which made Gladio smile. Prompto had done nothing wrong so far (except calling at ungodly hours) especially since he put up with all Noctis' childish idiosyncrasies.

" _Train gets into Magna Fortia at 5 I believe with the ferry to Altissia at 8 pm - it's an overnight one and we get into Altissia fairly early before the Galdin ferry at 10 I want to say. I know we get into Galdin after five and Noct_ is _determined to get to Hammerhead before it gets too dangerous on the roads. So we'll be in Hammerhead after 7 if you want to plan on bumping into us then. Or you can wait until we after we explore the sewers. Todays Saturday right? Well, it was Saturday - suppose it's Sunday now. So Monday we're still travelling, Tuesday we arrive. Wednesday is Snake Day - can't call it leg day when there are no legs on a Snake. Hehe and then Thursday is when we arrive in Lestallum. I think that's it as I said Noct has everything written on his phone - so I suppose once I hung up I could message you actual times and such_?"

"That would be ideal, yes, please. Do you have a number we can contact you on?"

" _Yeah! I warn you, my phone is crap. Like Noct's is a walking talking personal assistant, mine doesn't even take photos and has one crappy game called Hundlegs, in which you control a Hundlegs using the arrow keys to collect pellets of food without crashing into the walls or itself. Noct said he'd buy me an actual phone when we get to Lucis. I think he's fed up with me stealing his phone to play Kings Knight._ " He then proceeded to reel of some numbers, which had Gladio diving for the pen and paper to jot down.

"Thank you, all being well we will see you Tuesday."

" _We?_ "

"Yes, myself and Gladio…"

" _Ah, he's the big guy with a bossy attitude who trained Noct how to defend himself like a Princess… Nyx's words not mine..._ "

Gladio snorted, Ignis merely smiled.

"Yes, he's the one." He glanced down at the notes Gladio had been taking to make sure they hadn't missed anything. "Thank you for contacting us, Prompto. We really appreciate this and of course. I'm sure whatever you have to tell us will help."

" _Hehe, yeah. I hope so too… well thanks a bunch and sorry for calling so late I suppose. It's been the only time I have been able to get away from Noct and take his phone. So yeah, I guess secrecy would be appreciated as well._ "

"Mum's the word,"

" _Ah… I'll err take your word for it, I'm not sure what that means heh. Well, good night!_ "

"Gotta hand it to the kid," Gladio said once Ignis had hung up. "He really cares for Noct, if what he has to tell us is worth risking his friendship."

"Yes, and if what he has to tell us is worse than what we've heard today then we best be on our guard."

"Question is do we tell my dad and Cor?"

Ignis hummed at this thought. "I think we could play it by ear. I don't want to get their hopes up over something."

Gladio nodded. Ignis always had the best advice. "There is one thing still bothering me," he said finally. "How calm the kid was with the prospect of going into Crestholm Channels."

"I don't think they're aware of what they're up against in there. It's all sealed off so they shouldn't be able to get anywhere near it…"

"All the same… if we can…"

"Accompany them? Gladio that is one thing that Noctis probably has the upper hand. We're not hunters, your father has forbidden anyone to go into the Channels and that includes us…"

"I'd rather be with him than watch them go in there alone and not come out. Noct's probably still as stubborn now as he was seven years ago, a few locks aren't going to keep him out. If they have been sent in there to slay the beast then with us going it'll be four against one and not two…"

Ignis nodded reluctantly and Gladio knew it was because he was right and Ignis didn't want to admit it. He pulled him into a hug again. "Everything will be fine," he whispered into Ignis ear. "We'll meet up with them, clear the air and listen to what the kid has to say. With any luck, Noct will listen to the kid out of respect see that he was in the wrong and come home with us all without even having to worry about what we sealed in the channels." He planted a kiss on his boyfriend's cheek before pulling away and standing up. "Right then, we have a lot to do before Tuesday so come on. Let's go to bed." A chime signalled a message from an unknown number. A quick glance showed that it was a more detailed Itinerary of Noctis and Prompto's trip to Lucis. "Deal with it tomorrow Iggy. Come on, you went into work today when you didn't need to, so what you need now is sleep."

Ignis just nodded, eyelids heavy, and to Gladio's complete delight allowed himself to be pulled towards their bedroom. Phone lay on the table forgotten.

* * *

 **A/N:** Lots of dialogue in the chapter, a few revelations, both parties finding out a little bit more about each other.

I tried to remember timings in the game of the train journeys and ferry journeys so hopefully, they're at least realistic. No commercial aircrafts to help them get around lol. As always thanks for reading and until next week where it all kicks off as they finally meet!


	4. Chapter 4

"Do the car keys not have one of the buttons on it that you press it and the car beeps or flashes its lights?" Noct grumbled as they trawled through the line of cars in Galdin, looking for the one they had been loaned.

Prompto inspected the keys again. "No, it's a simple; put the key in the lock and turn."

Noct took the key from Prompto's hand and examined it, before muttering about the lack of technology. Something he often moaned about. It wasn't that Niflheim had a lack technology. In fact, all cars were Niflheim made, Lucis just enhanced them.

"Red convertible, with a white racing stripe. License plate says LEIDE," Noct said. Prompto hadn't noticed him taking out his phone. "I texted Ardyn," he admitted. "We were getting nowhere and I want to get to Hammerhead before nightfall." He shrugged and walked over to a Mustang that looked remarkably like what Noct had described. He unlocked the door and swung his bag onto the back seat. "You coming?"

Prompto grinned and headed for the car. He threw his bag in the back with Noct's then clambered into the passenger seat, looking around as Noct started the car. The realisation of being in another country still felt new to him. The first time he'd seen the ocean was at Magna Fortia, and he'd spent the entire journey staring out the tiny port-hole in their cabin, watching the waves, how the ship rolled and more importantly watching the horizon. Sailing on a ship wasn't all it was cracked up to be especially when the ship wouldn't stay still. Altissia was a different story, the sea a different colour. He almost didn't want to get on the ferry to Galdin, he could have quite happily retired in Altissia, he'd even taken pictures with an old camera Crowe had gotten him for his birthday a couple of years ago. The ferry to Lucis wasn't as bad as the previous one, Prompto had managed to keep his breakfast inside of him this time, but he was happier to be on dry land.

Noct had soon found the button that lower the top of the car and Prompto fiddled with the radio, finally settling on Lucian Cruisin.

"So welcome to Lucis," Noct said once they were out on the open road, passing through valleys and deserts. "On your left you have sand, on your right you have sand, and straight ahead… there's sand."

Prompto chuckled. "I was expecting a little more greenery."

"That'll be on our drive to Lestallum. This is Leide, desert wastelands, prairie fields, with very little to offer. Duscae has the green, it's like a huge swamp, with mountains and forests and stuff."

"Such a tour guide," Prompto teased. He had to admit though he was having fun, and even if there was currently sand everywhere, and weird looking mountains, he was just happy that he was with Noct. Noct looked happy as well, whether it was because he was home or some other reason.

Noct must have caught him staring. "What?" he asked. They'd agreed on the train that it was probably best if they spoke Lucian from now on, they didn't want to draw too much attention to themselves. Having a blonde in Lucis was rare enough without having them speaking Nifillian.

"You look happy," Prompto said with a sly grin. "More relaxed."

"I'm just happy to be finally at our destination, I'd forgotten how far it was to travel between countries," Prompto said nothing, just smiled as Noctis turned on to a dirt path. "There are some mines up here. Gladio and his dad took me camping there once. I think I was six or something. Anyway. We were staying at a nearby haven and I thought it would be fun to walk to the mines, in the dark, because Uncle Clarus had told us a story about a huge locked door that hid a maze of tunnels and a menace at the end. Gladio didn't believe him, but I did. So I went to prove to him that he was wrong, but I got lost." He chuckled at the memory and Prompto daren't say anything lest the moment was lost. He liked this new talkative Noct. "I didn't end up going very far, I don't think I even made it out of the elevator shaft before Clarus and Gladio found me. He wasn't angry though and the three of us explored the mines and we saw the door, we didn't go in though. It was locked. Looking back now, knowing what I know about daemons and their tendency to lurk in dark mines and such I've no idea how Clarus managed to protect us down there, you know. My dad was furious when we got home though, wouldn't talk to Clarus for at least a week. Fairly awkward when they're partners and run a business together you know," a dry pause and Prompto used it as an opportunity to capture a picture as they drove past. The mines were an imposing structure, yellow pipelines cut across the entrance and wooden tracks littered with rail carts led the way. It creaked ominously.

"Longwythe's on the main road, they have the only Crow's Nest in the whole of Leide, it's good stuff. Remind me to take you to the one in Old Lestallum, it's the original one and so much better than it's cousins," with the reminiscing over, Noct had returned to being a tour guide. It was amazing what he remember despite being away for seven years. "I forced Iggy to take me there once as a birthday treat. Not sure why I did it, but it was a big deal, balloons, cake, decorations, some dude dressed up like Kenny the Crow. People actually came as well, kids of people that my dad probably paid to come." Another shrug, then quiet. It seemed that whilst the memories were majorly happy, they tended to take a sour note whenever his dad was mentioned.

Another hour passed by with titbits about the land, or little stories Noct could remember. Prompto just listened in rapt silence, taking pictures whenever the harsh desert yielded something other than sand. Longwythe Peak for example, in which Noct said was actually a huge turtle, Prompto wasn't entirely sure he was telling the truth though.

* * *

Hammerhead was literally a service station. You couldn't even call it a town. It yielded a shop, a garage, a diner and a lone caravan in the middle of the carpark. It was very uninspiring.

"Howdy! Y'all looking for a tune-up?" a voice called as Noct parked and the two of them clambered out stretching their legs. Prompto glanced around, seeing a blonde woman holding a wrench and a cloth, partially hidden behind the open bonnet of a black sedan. Noctis frowned at the car deep in thought but didn't say anything.

"No thank you," Prompto called, blushing at his accent and due to the fact that the woman was scantily dressed and rather cute.

Noctis seemed to find his voice though. "We would like to rent the caravan though," he said grabbing his bag and hoisting it over his shoulder. Prompto followed suit.

The woman laughed. "Takka's the one to talk to, you might be outta luck though." She shrugged and returned back to the car she was working on. "He's in the diner," a painted fingernail pointed them where to go.

"We might be sleeping in the car tonight," Noct muttered and Prompto grimaced, he'd been sorely looking forward to a shower. Their accommodations the past couple of nights left nothing in the way of hygiene facilities. "I think there's a haven nearby as well, but we're not exactly equipped for camping."

They made their way into the diner and Prompto went to grab a booth whilst Noct enquired about the caravan. Once seated, he took his phone out to check for messages before glancing around. He'd not heard from Ignis in a while, not since he'd texted their itinerary over. He wondered if they were here already. Hammerhead diner was pretty empty, a family of three sat at the window counter on the opposite side from where Prompto had sat and there was a lone man, at one of the standing tables near the entrance. He was wearing dark glasses, strange for being inside and sported an impressive tattoo that covered his arms. Outside, were a couple of kids chasing a cat and a man with dirty blonde hair and glasses, talking to the blonde woman from before.

"No dice," Noct said placing a bowl of Jambalaya in front of him and Prompto frowned, the phrase "no dice" being new to him. "Oh, that means no luck - we didn't get the caravan," he added, reading Prompto's confused face correctly. He slid into the booth, bag pushed onto the floor, a sandwich in front of him. "Only thing on the menu that didn't have too many vegetables in it," he said using a fork to scoop out the grated carrot. "Takka said the Jambalaya is the spiciest thing on the menu, so yeah. Hope you like."

* * *

Gladio recognised him as soon as their battered old convertible drove into the car park. Noctis hadn't changed a bit, a bit taller maybe, leaner, heck he might even have some muscle mass under that jacket he was wearing. The other kid he was with, Prompto, looked exactly as Gladio had imagined. Sunshine blonde with blue eyes, a red tank top showed some muscles on his otherwise scrawny body. He was clutching a camera and taking photos of whatever caught his eye, which also included Cindy, the mechanic currently servicing Ignis' car. Ignis himself was in the store. Gladio was easier to stay inconspicuous, a pair of glasses and he was done. The fact that Noctis had never seen his tattoo helped things.

They had discussed long and hard on how they were going to approach Noctis. They knew they couldn't make a big deal out of it, they also needed to make it look natural, a mere coincidence that they were both in the same place at the same time. They finally decided on Gladio being the one to initiate contact, a casual approach and not one of surprise and intrigue.

Which led to Gladio being inside and Ignis to roaming outside. He listened with a smile as Takka apologised to the young man, the caravan they'd had their eyes set on already being rented, then an even wider smile as Noctis tried to order something that wasn't covered in vegetables. Somethings never changed. Food served and Noctis passed his table without even a second glance, he slipped into the booth and spoke low to Prompto before starting to eat. Now was his chance, he was fortunate that Prompto had picked a booth on the way to the restrooms.

He stood up, placed the glasses on top of his head, stretched and took his plate over to Takka to dispose before walking over to the young men.

"Huh, fancy seeing you here," he said with a grunt. Was that casual enough? "How's the saying go? Isn't it a small world?"

Noctis stared up at him, mouth opening and closing like a fish struggling to find what he wanted to say. To his credit, Prompto looked equally surprised, eyes flitting between Noctis and Gladio. "What have you done to your arms."

Gladio chuckled, seven years and that's the first thing he focuses on? "Like it? Similar to my dad's." Noctis just nodded before looking around.

"Is he here?"

"Who my dad?" a nod. "Nah, still in Insomnia. Iggy's car needed a service. Ain't know one better than Cid. Thought we come out here and make a date of it you know." It was interesting to see his face go through a variety of emotions, the one he was on now was one of shock.

"Iggy's here?" a whispered gasp.

"Yeah, probably in the caravan trying to cook a five-course gourmet meal on half a gas canister," he chuckled.

"Oh, so you're the ones who rented the caravan? What a… er... _zufall_ " Prompto chimed in, Gladio could see he was trying to stay positive.

"Coincidence," Noctis supplied looking up at Gladio, his emotion now one of mistrust.

"Yeah, sorry…" he said guiltily to Gladio who shook his head, there was nothing to apologise for not knowing a word in a language that wasn't his own.

"Where are you staying?" Gladio asked.

"Probably in the car," Prompto said, this time Noctis face flushed with anger.

" _Sei still_ ," he hissed and Prompto went pale.

" _Warum_?" he asked innocently and Gladio coughed. As impressed as he was by Noct's language skills, this wasn't the place to be having a private conversation.

"You should stay in the caravan with us, Iggy would love to see you!" Did that sound too eager? Like they were a group of schoolgirls wanting to have a sleepover and to gossip. Noctis looked unsure, but Prompto looked up at Gladio. Gladio glanced down to make eye contact, and to give the kid a reassuring smile. "Look, talk about it, decide. I'm gonna go take a leak, but I'll be back. It's nice to see you again Noct," he glanced meaningfully at the both of them, before heading towards the bathrooms. Everything was in Prompto's hands now.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Quick Translation:

Sei still - Be quiet  
Warum - Why **  
**


	5. Chapter 5

Noctis didn't know how to respond when Gladio appeared. Gladiolus Amicitia, the man who was brought up alongside him to be his bodyguard, the man he considered a brother, son to the man who was more of a father to him than his own. He also had a dumb tattoo, but that wasn't the point. The point was that he was here, at the same time as he and Prompto just happened to be passing through. Coincidence? He thought not. He thought he recognised the car getting serviced, but thought nothing of it. Then Gladio just swanned up to them, no hi, no, where have you been. Just a casual; ' _fancy meeting you here'_. It was as if the past seven years hadn't even happened.

Ignis was no different, very friendly there were no emotional reunions just a ' _hi, come on in. I baked brownies.'_

Prompto had been the one to talk him into at least visiting them, they didn't have to stay, just say hi and be sociable. Noctis had made up his mind to head straight back to the car and drive towards Insomnia, stopping at a nearby haven despite the fact that it was almost nightfall. Prompto had enticed him with a hot shower and a chance to catch up with his brothers. The latter, not something he wanted to do right now but was inevitable when the former sounded so inviting.

So here they were outside the caravan, sitting around a plastic table, seated in plastic chairs, sipping beer bought from the shop and munching on Ignis' brownies. The brownies alone were almost enough to give up Noctis' tough exterior and crawl back to Insomnia with his tail between his legs. Gods he had missed this cooking.

"So how long have you two been together?" the question was asked and Noctis dropped his brownie. The question coming straight out of the left field, what made it even stranger was that it wasn't directed towards him and Prompto, Prompto had asked Gladio and Ignis.

Noctis glanced warily over at the two of them. Sure they were sitting on the same side of the table, but there was nothing to say they were together, maybe it was a translation error and Prompto had meant to ask how long they had known each other. He watched as Gladio and Ignis shared a look, a faint blush appearing on Ignis' cheeks, Gladio reaching back to scratch his neck.

Prompto was innocently munching on brownies, waiting for his question to be answered.

"Hey Prom, did you mean to ask how long they've known each other?" Noctis asked carefully, still one eye on his brothers.

Prompto frowned. "No, unless it's the same answer to both," he grinned at them all. "They look at each other the same way Pelna and Crowe look at each other, sly hand touches when they think no-ones looking, a glance of adoration when the other's back is turned. It's cute."

Ignis' blushed deepened, Gladio chuckled. "Cat's out the bag now, kid's observant."

Noctis was too busy focusing on something else Prompto has said. "Pelna and Crowe?"

"You haven't noticed?" Noctis shook his head.

"Is it true though?" Noctis turned to Gladio and Ignis now, when had this happened? They weren't together when he was in Insomnia, they'd all been just good friends, a brotherhood.

Ignis was the one to confirm it. "For five years."

"Married?" Prompto asked and Noctis glanced at him before back at the older two.

"Not without Noctis," Ignis said, and Noctis couldn't help but notice the apologetic look he gave him.

Noctis just hummed at this announcement, he was shocked, to say the least, he'd always thought Ignis would be married to his work and that Gladio would find a nice girl and settle down, possibly have a couple of kids so that at least one of them could carry on the family line. He never thought they'd be together let alone for five years.

Prompto chose that moment to give out a huge yawn before he smiled sleepily at everyone. " _Ich bin müde_ ," he announced and Noctis had to smile.

"Ah yes, I agree it is getting quite late out and it would be best to turn in early. You're more than welcome to stay with us, there are four beds after all," Ignis said, and Noct stared at him surprised, he hadn't realised Ignis knew Nifillian, although when he thought about it, it wasn't that surprising. It also threw out any plans Noctis had of having a private conversation in Nifillian without them knowing.

Prompto turned to Noctis his eyes wide and pleading and Noctis found himself agreeing to stay the night. It was the look that did it, Prompto had only used it once before after they'd found a stray cat in the garage one winter and thus Moogle had moved in.

With the decision made the four of them tidied up quickly and retired inside, Prompto heading straight for the washroom first to shower and change, which meant leaving Noctis alone with Gladio and Ignis. The matter of his disappearance hung in the air like a poisonous cloud, no-one wanting to be the first to speak lest they breathe it in and it all goes horribly wrong. Gladio had sat down on one of the bunks, idly leafing through a book as though trying to find his place whilst Ignis stood in the kitchenette, washing up the cups and plates they had used. Now that he was here, he was thinking what a bad idea this had been, he should've guessed that Ignis at least would not have allowed them to sleep in the car outside, there was also the matter of what was going to happen tomorrow. The moment he mentioned where they were going, they would try and put a stop to it. The whole fact that neither of them had asked him where he'd been or what he was doing back was suspicious too.

It was Ignis who broke the silence first. "It is really good to see you Noct, it's a relief to see you looking so well."

"What are you doing here?" something was bothering him, everything was just too clean cut for his own liking.

"Didn't Gladio say, I had to bring my car to get serviced."

"Isn't there garages within the city limits?" he was probably being rude, but he didn't care, there was something not quite right, and it wasn't just a coincidence.

"Cid's a friend of our Dad's, he usually gives us a good deal," Gladio said and Noctis had to admit the truth in that, he had remembered hearing about Cid, but hadn't thought it to be a problem due to the fact they'd never met.

"In the middle of the week though?"

"Can't ignore a check engine light," Noctis just grunted and instead turned to his bag, fishing out some clothes to wear to bed. He needed to get Prompto on his own, so they could at least come up with a plan to ditch the two of them in the morning.

The bathroom door opened, revealing a freshly cleaned Prompto. "That shower was good!" he exclaimed. "It feels not bad to be not dirty!"

Despite his anger and suspicions towards his oldest friends, Noct couldn't help but laugh at his newest. It was obvious the poor guy was tired, normally fluent in Lucian, he'd been making tiny mistakes all day, a sure sign that he was flagging and ready to sleep. Sure enough, he let out another yawn.

"Have the bottom bunk Prom," Noctis said still smiling at him, he was cute like this. "I don't think you'll be able to climb into the top bunk at this rate anyway." He didn't look at Ignis or Gladio, knowing that there was still an unspoken air between the three of them. Instead, he grabbed his bag and headed into the bathroom. The last thing he heard as he closed the door was a very quick; _Danke_ as someone, probably Ignis helped Prompto over to the bunks.

* * *

When Ignis awoke the first thing he checked was that both Noctis and Prompto were still asleep, both he and Gladio had theorised that they might try and sneak off before they had woken, but fortunately, they were still fast asleep. Either Ignis had woken up earlier than they thought, or that they weren't planning to sneak off at all.

Breakfast was a simple affair, he had no idea how to cater to Prompto's tastes, the brownies from the night before had gone down a treat so he made some muffins and set aside various toppings for omelettes, before brewing some coffee.

It was drinking this coffee, reading a copy of the Insomnia Enquirer and enjoying the light breeze that came with the mid-may sunrise, that Prompto found him.

"Ah _, Guten Morgen,"_ he said causing Ignis to look up a smile at him. "I mean… good…"

Ignis chuckled. " _Guten Morgen_ ," he said with a sip of his coffee, Prompto looked pleasantly surprised as he sunk into one of the plastic chairs opposite him.

"You speak Nifillian?" he asked switching back to Lucian.

"Along with Tenebrean and Accordian. My Galahdian is rusty but I can get by in a pinch."

Prompto let out a low whistle. "That's impressive."

"Not as impressive as you, mine were all taught to me as part of the education I received."

"Yeah?" Prompto blushed, "Ardyn taught me how to read, write and count, never went to school though," Prompto admitted with a shrug. "We live with three Galahdians, Pelna has this obsession with Galahdian dramas, brought a whole bunch with him when they moved to Gralea, so I learned Galahdian by watching them. They had to learn Nifillian so we sit every night and watch these cheesy dramas with Nifillian subtitles. When Noct came along and only spoke Lucian, we did the same for him, switched the subtitles to Lucian, we learnt it as well. We didn't need to but pretty soon all six of us could have fluent conversations in three languages. We're going to work on Tenebrean next.

"There's six of you?"

Prompto nodded. "Yep; Nyx, Pelna and Libertus. They're the Galahdian's, Ardyn found them on the side of the road, the sole survivors of their village. The whole of Galahd wiped out over the course of a year due to StarScourge. Ardyn gave them a choice, live their lives in mourning of the ones they lost or get even by helping him rid the world of the evil that destroyed their homes and families." Prompto grinned, "I know which one I would choose."

Ignis remembered that he'd only been ten and living with the Caelum's for 4 years, first under the care of his uncle, then after his uncle passed away as a ward of the Caelum's.

Prompto continued, oblivious to Ignis' silent musing. "Then there's Crowe, she's Gralean like me, Ardyn didn't find her though Libertus did. Smuggled her into the house and tried to hide her, Ardyn found out though and invited her to join the group. I came next, I mean I had met them all and was technically the first but I'd been living with Ardyn in the research facility," another shrug. "Noct was last to join us."

"You mentioned before about Ardyn…" this was what had Ignis worried the most, Ardyn Izunia was not someone to cross. They'd met, previously when Regis, Noctis' father, had tried to combine the efforts of both MagiMite and CrystalTech, but they had wanted nothing to do with a merger and left, taking half of Regis' top researchers with them. This was when Regis first started investigating MagiMite's immoral practises.

He glanced up at Prompto, he was fidgeting with a black band on his right wrist, he looked as though he wanted to take it off but something was stopping him, he looked up and they made eye contact. Ignis gave him a soft smile, one that he hoped would encourage the poor boy to speak. Just mentioning Ardyn's name had brought upon a change to the blonde, no longer bubbly and willing to talk, instead, he was silent, brooding and scared. Was this what he wanted to discuss with them in the first place, the very reason for all four of them being here?

"Prom you out here?" Noctis' voice came through the slightly open caravan window, and soon he popped his head out the door. Prompto let out a brief sigh, his hand moving slightly to cover his wrist. "There you are, ready to go?"

Prompto smiled sadly at Ignis and made to stand, Ignis frowned. Were they heading out already? Prompto had already mentioned what they had to do, but Ignis hadn't had time to convince them to invite them along.

"Stay for breakfast at least?" Ignis asked, hoping it didn't sound too desperate.

Noctis looked ready to refuse but a loud rumble from Prompto's stomach betrayed them both. He clutched a hand over his stomach and grinned sheepishly. "Maybe we should stay for breakfast Noct, those muffins did smell delicious and I wouldn't say no to some coffee," he grinned at Ignis. "Plus we shouldn't head out on an empty stomach, we have to conserve our strength."

Noctis grumbled a bit before stomping down the steps of the caravan and throwing himself into a plastic chair. "Fine, but then we leave, we have a tight schedule."

"Oh?" Ignis said casually, folding his newspaper and trying to act as though he didn't already know their plans. "What plans are these?"

"Hunting and gathering!" Prompto said happier now there was the prospect of food on the horizon. Noctis stared at him, he obviously didn't want Prompto to give too much information away. "Our boss want's us to pick up and deliver some stuff, and we've got a short time to do it in before we have to head home."

"Sounds intriguing, mind if we tag along? Cindy say's the car won't be fixed until tomorrow at the latest and Gladio and I were at a loss of what to do to pass the time,"

Again Prompto, bless him, made the decision for the duo. "The more the happier right Noct?" Noctis scowled and sunk lower into the chair, Prompto, oblivious, or extremely aware, ignored him and instead turned to Ignis, a slight frown on his face. "You er can fight right? I know Gladio can because he trained Noct, but er you…"

"I can hold my own, don't worry," Ignis responded with a soft smile. "Can I tempt you with any omelette fillings Prompto. I have peppers, ham, shallots..."

"Anything, honestly I don't mind. I'm usually the one Noct gives his vegetables too," there was a chuckle and Noct groaned even more.

"Noct, cheese and ham?"

"Sure, whatever." Ignis kept his smile and went inside to make the omelettes and to also see if Gladio had decided to wake up.

"How's it going?" he was awake and had just come out the bathroom, towel drying his hair and brushing his teeth at the same time.

Ignis glanced out the kitchenette window, Prompto and Noctis were sitting across from each other, Prompto nervously playing with his band, whilst Noctis glared at him, his face one of betrayal. He motioned for Gladio to join him at the window so they could hear what was being said.

"What did you do that for?" Noctis mumbled, his voice low so as not to be heard. He hadn't realised that the kitchenette window was open.

"I thought it would be nice to have extra muscle, and Gladio's got a lot of it," Prompto chuckled nervously and Ignis saw Gladio smirk out of the corner of his eyes.

"Ardyn said the Jormungand had been defeated, we shouldn't have any problems."

"Yeah, but what's to say there aren't other things down there," Prompto visibly shuddered. "Big hunts like this usually takes at least 3 of us, if not all of us. I'm just a gunner, I'm not going to be much help at close quarters if you get hurt or…"

"I'm not going to get hurt, I just… I don't want them to come…"

"Noct, they're your brothers…"

"Yeah brothers that want me to return to Insomnia! Look you don't get it, you haven't come from the same life I have…"

"No, you're right, Noctis!" Prompto stood up, his voiced raised. Noctis winced at his best friend using his full name. "I haven't come from the same life as you but that doesn't mean that I don't understand. They have been nothing but kind to us. If it had been the opposite and you had run away from us then I would not have been calm if I had bumped into you. I would have screamed at you, I would have been angry with you, I would have wanted answers. They have done nothing, they've treated you like an old friend who moved away, like someone they treated with respect and frankly you've been rather rude to them! _So stop acting like a bratty child and apologise. They've done nothing wrong and you should feel honoured that they want to help you, instead of stopping you from going on a stupid mission that might be your last."_ The change from Lucian to Nifillian was so quick it caught Noctis off-guard. His mouth opened and closed unsure of what to say, and Ignis used this lull to quickly translate to Gladio what Prompto had said. Prompto was glaring at Noctis, waiting for an answer and when one didn't come he walked away from the table.

Gladio and Ignis shared a glance, Gladio motioned that he would head outside and Ignis nodded, finally turning his attention to the stove and the omelette's he was supposed to be making. He nodded to the plate of muffins once Gladio had disposed of his towel and put away his toothbrush, he grabbed the plate of muffins and went to join Noctis.

"Chocolate Chip," he announced casually, feigning innocence at the scene they had just witnessed.

As Gladio tried to engage in a neutral pleasant conversation with Noctis, Ignis cooked. Prompto seemed very level head, possibly an even match for Noctis, Ignis could tell that they cared deeply for one another, possibly even as more than friends. He also wondered if they had been too blasé about the reunion, should they have made a deal about his return? He and Gladio had discussed in detail, deciding what to say and what not to say, and what to wait until the time was right. It was obvious to Ignis that Prompto had something to say to them, something that he hadn't told Noctis yet and from what he had gathered so far, it was something to do with both Ardyn and MagiMite. This was interesting to Ignis as Prompto had wanted to tell them before he learned of their involvement with CrystalTech. This told Ignis that whatever he had to say effected Noctis in someway. By inviting Gladio and himself along to hunt with them, Prompto was delaying the inevitable but also making sure that he could still talk to them at some point. Time was running out though and Ignis didn't think they could push their luck by following Noctis around. They had to gain Noctis' trust, show him that they trusted him and above all, respect his freedom.

* * *

 **A/N:** Libertus and Crowe are like brother and sister I couldn't ship them together. Pelna, on the other hand, is free lol. Nyx and Libertus… I'm not sure about them two yet - I mean they don't have to pair up but I might be writing Luna into this at some point lol.


	6. Chapter 6

Had Prompto gone too far? He got that Noctis seeing his friends probably brought up bad memories of his childhood, but Prompto knew there had been good memories as well, memories that he'd shared only yesterday as they'd drove through Leide, memories that only being home had caused them to emerge. When Prompto had called Ignis and Gladio six months ago, he never thought they would be here, all together, he thought he could just tell them what he knew, they could assuage his fears or act on them in his behalf and all would be right in the world. But then he chickened out, he couldn't tell them about the stupid mark on his stupid wrist and what he and Crowe thought that it stupidly meant. He kicked a rock out of frustration watching it bounce across the desert. There was a pack of something roaming in the distance, the local wildlife probably, as Daemons only came out at night.

He sat down on a rock, feeling miserable. He'd meant every word that he said though, it was amazing how calm and collected both Gladio and Ignis were about it all, had they even told anyone else that they were coming out here to meet them? He glanced towards Hammerhead, he hadn't wandered too far and could easily see the caravan in the distance. He knew he should head back, he stomach was growling, if Ignis' cooking was anything like the brownies from last night, then his omelette would probably amazing as well.

He stood up and dusted some sand off his jeans before glancing around, Lucis certainly had it's unique places, although it did sort of remind Prompto of Cartanica, that place was a desert in its own right. His phone rang and hoping it was Noct he answered it without looking at the display.

"Is this when you call to apologise Noct?" he answered in Lucian, his head was a little clearer now, so he could at least focus on what he wanted to say, plus he wanted Noctis to be honest with himself and it was better for him to speak in his native language.

" _Noct's not with you_?" the voice that replied was definitely not Noct, it was speaking Nifillian and was female. Crowe.

"I mean, we had a little argument, nothing big. He's at the caravan, I just went for a walk to clear my head," Prompto laughed nervously, switching to Nifillian, what did Crowe want? "Everything okay, missing us yet? How's Moogle, you are remembering to feed her right?"

" _We're not missing you, Nyx even joked that it was a lot quieter without Noct's grumbling,_ " Crowe laughed and Prompto smiled, Noct only grumbled because Nyx teased him. " _Moogle's been fed and yeah… everything's fine, sort of… listen can you talk now_?"

Prompto sat back down on the rock, keeping one eye on the creatures prowling around and the other in the direction of Hammerhead. "What's the matter?"

" _Well Libertus and I managed to get into Zegnautus,_ " Prompto held his breath. Zegnautus Keep was MagiMite's main research centre, he'd been there a couple of times, once when he was younger and having just been found by Ardyn, he'd brought him to work with him. Most recently though he'd found himself there running an errand for Ardyn. What he saw there was the whole reason he wanted to talk to Ignis and Gladio, he subconsciously ran the wrist with his band on over his knee, feeling the fabric rise up a little as he did. " _We managed to steal a couple of notes, some research documents and it's all true, everything that you thought you saw when you went last, it's all pretty much true… I'm sorry Prom…_ "

He breathed out forcefully and rubbed his wrist harder as if the friction alone would rub away the mark that was hidden. Crowe was the only one that knew about his mark, a tattoo of sorts, designed like a barcode. He'd just always kept it hidden, if Ardyn knew about it he didn't question it, but he knew Noctis and the others didn't know about it. When he saw, what he'd seen that day in Zegnautus he had told Crowe right away, she was smart, had a good head, surely she'd know what it all meant. But she didn't, everything they said and discussed was all speculation. It was her idea to steel Noct's phone and call his friends, maybe they could get them in contact with CrystalTech to warn them what MagiMite was doing. Before he and Noctis left for Lucis he'd pulled Crowe aside and asked her to continue looking into it, if what they thought was true then they could all be in danger. Crowe had promised and subsequently come through.

He let out another shaky breath. "Can you get out of Gralea?"

" _We could try, I think Ardyn's planning on sending us to Ghorovas Rift soon, maybe we could not go back… go to Tenebrae or something_?" there was a pause. " _However, to be perfectly honest, and Nyx and Pelna agree, running away might be even more dangerous. Nothing has happened so far, we're all still here, alive and well looked after, maybe if we just feign innocence for just a little bit longer… have you spoken to Noct's family yet_?"

"I've tried… it's just hard… they're here though and they're coming with us to get what we need. Maybe I'll tell them tonight…"

" _Please do, if they have any connection to CrystalTech…_ "

"That's just it," Prompto announced interrupting her. "It's a weird coincidence but they work for CrystalTech, Noct's the heir to it all, tell Nyx if you want that he was completely right about him being a trust fund, but this is working out in our favour. I just have to tell them…" he sighed and kicked another rock.

" _That's fortunate… Ardyn's just arrived so I have to go, but let me know what they say okay_?"

"Yeah…" the line went dead and Prompto stuffed his phone back in his pocket. No pressure then, if Crowe was able to confirm everything that he'd seen then they needed to tell CrystalTech. He sighed and kicked another rock resolving to tell them after their task.

* * *

An hour later the four of them were in Ardyn's car driving towards Insomnia, Noctis was driving with Prompto in the front, there was still a little animosity between them but at least they weren't yelling at each other anymore. Gladio was with Ignis in the back.

In the end, it was Gladio who had gone looking for Prompto, Noctis had wandered off to sit in the car, taking his omelette with him, so Gladio had taken Prompto's omelette in the hopes of encouraging him to speak. Instead, they had sat in silence, Prompto eating whilst Gladio kept an eye out, the Sabertusks and the Dualhorns native to the area could be trouble when caught off-guard.

It was Prompto who made the decision to head back, almost getting up and leaving before Gladio had time to notice. Nothing was said, just an unspoken understanding between everyone that it was probably best to go, Ignis had already loaded the bag with his and Gladio's weapons into the boot of Ardyn's car.

Hammerhead was only an hour from Crestholm and in fact, the Esterleiden bridge that separated the ocean between Leide and Cavaugh, so it was still mid-morning by the time they arrived. Noctis parked in the Crown City Checkpoint car-park, grabbed a sword from the back seat and stalked off towards the check-point. Prompto hurriedly grabbed a couple of pistols from his bag and a belt filled with extra rounds before hurrying after him.

"Think it's their first fight?" Gladio asked as he hefted his greatsword up to rest on his shoulder. "You think they're…"

Ignis clicked his tongue, sheathing his daggers in the holster on his thighs and strapping a polearm to his back. "We have more pressing matters in hand, other than questioning Noct's love life." He started after the younger two, causing Gladio to close the boot of the car and jog after him.

"Is it such a bad thing? Or are you still trying to live up to my dad's ridiculous notion of him marrying?" Ignis paused and shot a scathing glare in Gladio's direction. "That's the whole reason why…"

"This is neither the time nor the place to dredge up the past Gladio," Ignis said warningly before continuing on after the younger two.

* * *

They'd waited for them, blessedly. Neither Ignis nor Gladio wanted to imagine having to catch up with them in the maze that was Crestholm. Prompto, nervously switching between fingering the band on his arm to checking he had enough rounds. Noctis with a sense of determination.

Once Ignis and Gladio had caught up, Noctis slowly descended the staircase, followed by Prompto then Ignis, leaving Gladio to bring up the rear. As soon as Gladio had touched the bottom, feet squelching in the river of water, Noctis was off and down the tunnels. The path he took was fairly linear and it almost looked like he knew what he was doing.

A small set of stairs and they were standing in front of a computer mainframe of sorts.

"Oh hi switch what do you do?" Prompto asked casually, shoving forward and tampering with a few of the buttons.

"Ardyn said that where we want to go is protected by a locking mechanism of four switches, hit the switches and we get access," Noctis said despite the earlier tension, both Noctis and Prompto seem to realise that these channels were no place to hold a grudge. They either worked together or didn't work at all. "Not sure why it's locked though when the beast is meant to be dead already." He shot a glance at Ignis and Gladio.

"Noctis… maybe we should…" Ignis started, it was then they realised how much of a mistake this was. The Jormungand that Noctis thought was already dead, was not dead and there was a very good reason for why the locks were still in place.

"Hey, Noct!" Prompto called. "Up or down?"

Gladio looked over to where Prompto was standing at the top of a small slide, the water cascading down into the channels below. Noctis consulted something, a map he'd produced from his pocket.

"Up," he said finally. "There's another switch."

"Gotcha," Prompto had barely taken two steps when something leapt out at him, he stumbled slightly, falling backwards into the water, his gun raised up as he took in his surroundings.

"Prom!" Noctis yelled, drawing his sword and jumping down, swiping at the air. Two Bussemand were encircling the younger pair, but neither of them seemed phased. Prompto scrambled to his feet and switched his pistol with a flare gun, firing one shot up in the air, the shell burst illuminating the area. The daemons hissed back in alarm, raising purple arms to shield their eyes. Noctis took this as his queue to attack, leaping up and severing the head from the body on the closest one to him. Prompto had switched back to his pistol and fired a round of shots in the shoulder of the other one before Noctis, finished it with a blow to the head. They high-fived as the daemons evaporated into pools of miasma.

Gladio glanced at Ignis who in turn glanced at the two younger men.

"Maybe they don't need us after all," Ignis whispered, everything had happened so fast that neither of them had thought to even draw their own weapons.

"Don't count on it," Gladio growled, jumping down from the higher ground they were still on. "There's still what lies behind the door."

* * *

It felt good to fight alongside Noctis again, Prompto thought as they took down a group of Gelatin that had ambushed them as they rounded a corner. Their earlier dispute still lingered in the air, but both of them knew it was something that would have to be dealt with later.

Ignis and Gladio seemed more at ease as well, well as at ease as they could when wandering aimlessly through sewer like channels, jumping at every bump, squeal or grind. It was clear from the get-go that Gladio was the proficient fighter, the way he handled the greatsword, that probably weighed more than Prompto, was a sight to behold. Ignis whilst not as confident still held his own, he had certain litheness to him, and often flipped out the way or used polearms to jab from a distance, something that was very handy when they were cornered by a Yojimbo.

Prompto had often wondered what made the daemons, who they were. He knew that once you were infected with StarScourge you slowly mutated into a daemon, but what determined the daemon? Were those with muscles destined to become Bussemand and those small and childlike destined to become Imps or was it less on personality types and more on RNG. Once you contracted it the dice was rolled then the type was set and it was just luck with what you became?

His thoughts, morbid as they were kept him occupied as they trailed through rivers, crawled through small passages, climbed over pipes that towered hundreds of feet above the ground. That last one wasn't fun, no-one had mentioned death-defying tightrope walking would be needed on this journey. Then again this was Ardyn and Prompto was slowly coming to realise that Ardyn didn't exactly tell them everything.

Finally, the last switch was hit and the quartet stood in front of the now gaping hole that was once covered by a door.

"In and out," Noctis said and Prompto seriously hoped it was true.

"Noct," Ignis said, placing a hand on Noctis shoulder and in a tone that to Prompto didn't sound too good.

"Ever wonder why the seals were on in the first place," Gladio growled and Noctis turned to them both.

"Ardyn said dad killed the beast years ago…" he said slowly.

Ignis pushed his glasses further up his nose. "It's true that your father led an expedition into these channels years ago, Cor and Clarus went with him however they found that the beast that lurks behind this door was too powerful, they sealed it off. Forbade anyone from entering…"

Prompto gulped, so the Normandy or whatever it was called, was still alive and waiting for them. He shuffled to the edge, like with the majority of the channel it was a long slope, with a drop at the end.

"That's ridiculous," Noctis was saying behind him. "Why would Ardyn send us down here if the beast was that dangerous. He'd at least send help…" There was a loud roar at that point as if to prove it's existence. A roar that rumbled and echoed, that vibrated and shook, Prompto wobbled, his foot slipping before he was sliding down the very slope he didn't want to go down.

* * *

One minute Prompto was with them, the next he wasn't and all three of them turned sharply as they watched the blonde hair of Prompto disappear out of sight.

"Prom!" Noctis yelled and went to go after him, Gladio held him back.

"We need to assess the situation…"

A shot rang out interrupting Ignis. "Ah, guys…" Prompto called, slightly panicked. "Ahhh," another shot, another yell. "Not dead, not dead, not… ahhh!" Not panicked, terrified.

Noctis broke free of Gladio's hold and jumped down the slope, sliding in a crouch, sword ready.

"Shit," Gladio muttered, sliding down after him without a second thought, leaving Ignis behind.

Ignis sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, silently analysing what had just transpired. They had, in hindsight, made a grievous error in coming in unprepared. Whilst neither party knew what the other knew, it probably would have been handy to have that communication beforehand. If they had known fully what Noctis had been sent to do then they could have explained further, but Gladio and himself had been too focused on not scaring Noctis away, of building back the trust they had lost, that what lay beneath was of minor consequence. Now, however, they were paying for it. He tried to remember what was written about the beast, what the reports Cor, Clarus and Regis had brought back with them had described. It was a snake, akin to Midgardsomr or a Grootslang. However, those paled in comparison to what they were about to go up against. This was a beast, not a daemon, this was a living and breathing monster that had been locked away for a reason. Centuries of being cooped up in a sewer had probably not done it any favours. If Ignis remembered rightly (which he often did), swords and daggers were key here as they were small enough to find the weak spots between its scales. Strapping his lance to his back he instead drew his daggers from their sheath before sliding down the slope to join his friends.

They were all still alive and relatively unharmed, Ignis landed in the pool of water at the bottom, and immediately did a handspring out the way of the beast's tail as Noctis jumped over him, jabbing from behind. Gladio rushed over to join him and the two teamed up for a blindside attack as Prompto kept it distracted by shooting at its head.

Ignis held back, watching waiting, the downside to using daggers meant that he had to get up close and personal, but it was flailing too much, if anything they could do with overwhelming it, somehow making it vulnerable before linking up and getting close.

"Dudes this thing is packing more firepower than I am right now," Prompto groaned as he emptied another clip and ducked to switch it out. As he did though, the beast roared and glowed red, spewing a fire blast from its mouth. Gladio dropped to the floor and army crawled out the way to dodge it, Prompto yelped and covered his ears, Noctis growled back before getting in close to swipe with his sword.

Ignis watched as the snake circled in on itself. "Everyone, regroup!" he called out and Gladio grabbed Noctis from where he was jabbing and hurried over to Ignis. Prompto was last to join them, hurdling over the tail as it circled around.

"You have a plan, Iggy?" Gladio asked once they were all together and Ignis frowned they just need to wait for the right moment. They were all breathing heavily, sweating, dirty and not without a few minor burns they wouldn't last much longer if they didn't do something. Then Ignis saw his chance, the beast roared shooting up from his circle and glanced around, it wasn't attacking it was recharging and it was perfect.

"Hey, Ignis? Instructions?" Noctis murmured slightly panicked and Ignis felt a little surge of pride that even after all these years in the heat of the moment he would still look to Ignis for tutelage.

Ignis pointed at the snake. "Hit it with everything we have!"

He'd barely finished when Gladio had moved forward and hefted his greatsword around in an arc, spinning himself. Prompto emptied another clip before switching guns and emptying that one as well. Ignis and Noctis ran forward, getting up close and personal, Noctis with his sword, Ignis with his daggers, hacking, jabbing, slicing and dicing. The beast straightened out readying its next move, but Gladio charged in swinging his sword and catching it off guard, pushing it back against the wall as it flopped down onto it's back.

Ignis and Noctis shared a look and Noctis ran forward jumping and bringing his sword down before jumping backwards ducking down to regain balance, Ignis threw his daggers to the ground and instead grabbed the lance off his back. When Noctis ducked down, he jammed the lance into the floor to pole vault over Noctis before bringing the lance up and over him, angling the spear down in-between the beast's scales.

The Jormungand let out a pained roar but didn't get up, Ignis backed away towards Gladio who was rolling his shoulder nearby, both still heavily on guard.

"Think that's it?" Gladio said as he readjusted his grip on his greatsword. Ignis tightened his grip on his lance and stared at the beast.

"I think…" he stopped as the beast suddenly glowed red and they both looked towards where Noctis was helping Prompto up to a standing position.

"Noct!" Gladio yelled, sprinting towards the pair, his sword clattering to the ground in favour of speed to get to the boys. Noctis looked over, before looking back at the beast. Prompto spun, his hands firmly on his pistol as he raised it. The beast was still lying on the floor, it's roar pained as it glowed red, it's tail lashed out, spines aflame, towards Prompto, but Noctis pushed Prompto out of the way and caught the full force of the tail as it flung him across the room where he slid down the wall and slumped, unmoving. Ignis raced towards Noctis, Gladio almost at Prompto's side as a final shot ran out and the beast dropped, splashing into the water. Finally defeated.

Ignis crouched down next to Noctis, he was bleeding from a rather nasty gash on his chest, from where the spines had hit him as the tail sent him flying, he was also badly burned, more so than the rest of them. He was breathing, but it was faint and he was unresponsive. He heard footsteps behind him and turned slightly to see Gladio and Prompto jog over. Gladio sporting an already dried cut over his left eye. Prompto looked virtually unharmed, tinged hair, a bruise on his neck, he was also favouring his left leg as he jogged.

"Is he…?" Prompto chocked out, falling to his knees and crawling towards Noctis, reaching out and grabbing a hand.

"He's alive, but he needs help. We need to get him into the city."

Gladio nodded and pushed Prompto out of the way, the poor man squeaking as he splashed into the water, before he carefully, with Ignis' helped, hefted Noctis on to his shoulder. Ignis then turned to help Prompto up, seeing the younger man pale with worry.

"Prompto look at me," Ignis commanded and Prompto finally tore his gaze away from where Gladio was making his way over to a ladder that would take them back up to the main tunnels. "He'll be fine, we just need to get out of here," Prompto didn't look sure and glanced towards the ladder again, his hand working with the band on his wrist. "Prompto, _schau mich an_!" Prompto flicked his eyes towards Ignis once more. " _I need you to be strong, can you do that?_ " Ignis asked in haltered Nifillian. It had been ages since he'd had to speak it fully. " _We need to get_ Noctis _to a hospital, the nearest of which is in the city. So I need you to stay with us okay? For_ Noctis?"

Prompto let out a small sob, but nodded, eyes full of resolve.

* * *

Prompto had no idea how they managed to get back through the channels but soon they were blinking into the setting sun and Ignis had grabbed Prompto's hand and was dragging him towards the car.

"Can you drive?"

"What? Er yeah." Prompto nodded, Ignis' words from earlier still engraved in his mind. Seeing Noct broken like that, unmoving, unresponsive, being carried by Gladio like he weighed nothing was unsettling. Noctis was his life, he knew that now. He'd always been the odd one out until Noct had turned. They were as thick as thieves and Prompto honestly didn't know what he would do without him, he didn't think he could go back to being on his own.

"I'm gonna need you to focus and to drive. I need to tend to Noctis, Gladio has never driven a stick shift before but he'll navigate you. Can you focus, for me? For Noctis?

Prompto nodded, determined. He could do this, he would do this. For Noctis.

* * *

 **A/N** : I have now reached the end of what I had previously written. I had written at least 5.5 chapters before I posted the first one and I have been stuck writing this one for so long because... well it was a fight scene and they are in my opinion so hard to write! But it's done and now I can hopefully head towards what everyone (maybe) has been waiting for. Prompto's damn secret lol.

I spent so much time in Crestholm researching for this chapter (replaying the Jormungand hunt over and over again) and now I never want to go back (despite the fact that I still haven't completed its menace dungeon _)

Quick Translation (hopefully):

schau mich an - Look at me - Ignis to Prompto


	7. Chapter 7

Prompto was a nervous wreck, the fact that he was driving Ardyn's car and if he crashed it, he wouldn't be allowed to live was only second to the fact that Noctis was currently lying unconscious in the back seat, Ignis muttering to himself as he tried to work out the extent of Noctis' injuries. Gladio was silent, speaking only to give Prompto directions.

In any other circumstance, Prompto would have been awestruck by the sheer size of Insomnia. Gralea was by no means a small town, a bustling metropolis in its own right, however, Insomnia was something else. The roads had different levels! Whereas the tallest building in Gralea was the keep, it seems as though that was the normal size for all buildings in Insomnia.

Gladio directed him to take the freeway until their exit came up and Prompto had to put all his thoughts of Noctis on the back burner as he navigated six-lane traffic and successfully exited the freeway only to get stuck in rush hour queues. Gladio growled, Ignis sighed and Prompto saw an empty lane.

"What that lane?" he asked, tapping his fingers nervously against the side of the steering wheel.

"Emergencies only," Gladio huffed, checking his phone.

Prompto made the executive decision and flicked his indicators on before sliding over into the emergency lane. "This is an emergency," he muttered ignore the indignant honks of other cars as he passed. Gladio said nothing, only pointed for him to follow the blue signs with a white H on them. Prompto sighed at the familiarity of the sign, it was the same in Niflheim.

He pulled up in the ambulance bay, and Gladio hopped out to help Ignis with Noctis and they disappeared into the hospital without so much of a backwards glance, Prompto glanced around nervously. He couldn't stay here, he'd already pushed his luck with the emergency lane, but parking the car in an ambulance bay? Putting the car back into drive, he circled around before finding the signs for a parking garage.

He was stalling, he could have found the closest space, regardless of whether it was an accessible bay, parent and child or the first empty one he came to, but he drove down three floors, and found one right at the back of an empty lot before parking and walking back across the garage to the elevators. Yes, he was worried about Noct, but that didn't stop him from feeling guilty. In his eyes, it was his fault that they even had to drive to a hospital in the first place. Noct had protected him, he should have been able to protect himself and now Noct was… he chocked back a small sob at the thought of never seeing him again, never speaking to him again. There was another sob then, as he remembered that the last conversation they'd had was an argument.

He was crying openly by the time he reached the elevators, and inconsolable by the time he reached the ground floor of the hospital. He'd never been in a hospital before but the smell and the cleanliness reminded him of the labs at MagiMite, using his sleeve to dry his eyes and blow his nose, he took a shuddering breath trying to stem the tears that were still flowing and walked towards the reception desk.

"How can I help?" the woman was chipper, way too chipper to be working in a hospital where people were ill and hurt and everything was supposed to be sad.

" _Mein..._ " he started in Nifillian. He caught himself before he finished as confusion appeared on the woman's face. "My friend was just brought here."

"Name?"

"Noctis."

"Last name?"

Prompto froze, they didn't have last names, he was just Prompto, his passport said Prompto Izunia, but that couldn't be far from the truth, it was just a name Ardyn had given him for his official documents. Documents he was pretty sure were fake anyway. Noctis had a passport too, but he hadn't seen it. "Er… CrystalTech?" he hazarded a guess. Maybe his last name was his company? That made sense right? The receptionist just stared at him.

"Prompto!" a voice called and Prompto turned. Seeing Gladio over by the elevators holding three cups of coffee he turned back to the receptionist nodded his thanks and walked over to join him.

"We're on the fifth floor, did you park the car?" his voice was strained as though he was trying to put on a brave front and Prompto couldn't help but think that it wasn't a good sign so he just nodded and pressed the button on the elevator indicating the fifth floor.

The elevator dinged, they stepped out onto the floor and Gladio led the way to a private room through a set of double doors. The room was empty of everyone except Ignis who was staring out the window, a pained expression on his face.

"They've taken him for a couple of scans, they think he may have broken something or at least aggravated the old wound," he said not turning around. Gladio grunted and placed the three coffees on a small table, one he handed to Prompto whilst another went to Ignis.

Prompto frowned and sat down in a chair positioned next to the empty hospital bed, hands grasping his coffee. What old wound? There was that scar on Noctis back that looked painful, did they mean that? He took a sip and promptly spat it back out again, Gladio chuckled, his own coffee lay untouched on the table.

"That bad?" Prompto just nodded and Ignis turned around, green eyes glistening as he took his own sip. His lips pursed at the taste but didn't spit it out, instead, he nursed it slightly, blowing on it before taking another small sip.

They were silent for a while, Prompto sitting, the other two standing up by the window, Gladio's hand on the small of Ignis back, reassuring. Questions bubbled in Prompto's mind, no-one had mentioned if Noctis was okay, no-one elaborated, Gladio's scar looked to have been stitched up, Ignis had a bandaged hand but Noctis...

There was a loud murmur of voices from outside the room and the older two shared a look before they both checked their phones. Prompto swallowed nervously, still holding on to his coffee, it was something to hold, something to keep his mind occupied. The voices got closer.

"If you won't let me transfer him, then I want Doctor Yeager transferred here," the door opened to reveal two older men, both with their fair share of muscles, one with brown hair, blue eyes and a hardened face. The other as tall and as large as Gladio, if not bigger. His hair was grey, his eyes also blue.

"Do any of you want to tell me why I had to find out from border control that Noctis is back in Insomnia?" the bigger man asked and Gladio shrank back.

"It's a long story," came Ignis voice, he placed the coffee on the table and gestured to the two chairs occupying the room. Prompto squeaked when the two men stared at him, placed his coffee on the floor out the way and he jumped off his own chair so they could both sit down.

Once they were both seated Ignis launched into the story. "A couple of days ago I received a phone call from an acquaintance of Noctis, they said they were going to be in Hammerhead for a couple of days and inquired if we'd like to meet up. Gladio and I jumped at the chance to check in on Noctis, we didn't tell you because we wanted to test the waters first, see how he was with us. One thing led to another and we ended up accompanying them on a hunt they'd been assigned for, that's when Noctis got hurt.

It was choppy at best, and Prompto could see some glaring flaws with Ignis' story. There was no mention of what they were hunting, why they were hunting or even any mention of Prompto himself.

"Who's the Niff?" the other asked, once Ignis had finished. He was the one with dark hair and he glared at Prompto who almost opened his mouth to retaliate. Almost, he didn't though, the guy wasn't wrong.

Gladio and Ignis looked at Prompto and nodded their heads. Prompto took a deep breath and fingered the band around his wrist carefully. The older man looked to be related in some way to Gladio and if Prompto remembered correctly that would mean this man worked for CrystalTech as well. Coming to Lucis had been an ideal way to warn CrystalTech of what MagiMite was planning, what he thought they were doing. If he didn't say something now, when would he ever? He would have liked Noct to have been here as well, but this way might be easier. Explain it to Noctis' friends and family first, worry about convincing him later. He grasped the band on his arm and pulled it off. It was now or never.

* * *

Ignis watched as Prompto worried at the band on his wrist, watched as he glanced at the two older men. They hadn't really had time for introductions, Clarus and Cor didn't look in the right frame of mind for a friendly chat. They both wanted answers and the fact that Ignis and Gladio had snuck out of the city on the pretence of getting the car serviced, only to come back through border control with an unconscious Noctis and an un-registered car probably raised a few alarms.

They'd managed to get through border control pretty easy, usually, there was a whole screening process, passports, birth certificates, documents that confirmed they were clear of StarScourge, tedious but necessary in ensuring the capital was left safe. Getting out of the city was always fine, they had a visa for two to leave and two to return. Gladio had got them back into the city, by taking Prompto the less travelled route, to a border patrol point where they knew the guard on duty, a guard that had waved them through without asking for identification for the other two in the car. Word must have gotten around though and that's why both Cor and Clarus were here in Noctis' hospital room, whilst Noctis was being scanned and tested.

Prompto had pulled off his band now, and Ignis couldn't help but craning his neck in order to try and see what was hidden there. He needn't have bothered because Prompto chose that moment to thrust his hand out into the centre of the room and display the tattoo that was etched into his skin.

It wasn't like Gladio's or Clarus', the sweeping eagle that spanned their back and shoulders. This looked like an ordinary barcode, one found on the back of supermarket products. There were numbers as well, etched underneath.

"My name is Prompto," he said in Lucian. "I'm a friend of Noct's and a hunter for MagiMite. I met Noctis seven years ago when our handler Ardyn Izunia brought him to where we lived. There's six of us. Me and Noctis, Crowe and Pelna, Nyx and Libertus. The last three are from Galahad. We hunt daemons for MagiMite, slaying them and collect samples so the scientists can research how to stop the spread of StarScourge. At least that is what we were lead to believe," he paused and Ignis frowned. Was this what Prompto wanted to tell them all those months ago, what spurred his phone call to arrange for the four of them to meet up. "MagiMite have been experimenting on humans for years, forcibly subjecting them to StarScourge and researching how the mutation takes place. Instead of healing them, they've been trying to harness the disease to power the city. They want to control StarScourge and not destroy it. They take children off the streets, or homeless pregnant women who have no hope of survival. They inject them, experiment on them, they take the babies and experiment with them as well," he motioned to the barcode on his wrist. "I'm one of those children. I don't remember it much other than the fact that I escaped somehow. I don't have StarScourge if that's what you're wondering, but I was branded as a human experiment.

He took a deep shuddering breath, tears forming at the edge of his eyes. "I just want Noct to be safe, I called Ignis and Gladio because I thought they could help me get in touch with CrystalTech, I never imagined that they would work for CrystalTech or that Noctis is who he is. CrystalTech wants to help heal and I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of something my company is doing. I've seen the labs where they experiment and it's horrible, the plasma just takes over, you can't even call them human anymore and that could have been me. I don't know why it's not me and I'm glad it's not because I got to meet Noct, I got to meet Crowe and Nyx and you two," he was crying freely now and Gladio had stepped forward, eyes glancing concernedly at Ignis before he pulled the young man into a hug.

Ignis looked towards Cor and Clarus, they hadn't said anything but Ignis could tell what they were thinking. Clarus gripped the edge of his chair, knuckles white in anger. Anger at who, Ignis didn't know and he hoped it wasn't at Prompto, he'd done a brave thing to bring this information to them.

Cor stood up from his chair and crossed over to where Prompto was sobbing into Gladio's shirt.

"Hey, kid?" he said and Ignis was surprised at the softness in his voice. Cor wasn't one known for compassion. Prompto sniffed and looked up, shying away slightly from Cor's intense gaze. "Ich heisse Cor und… well, that's all I know, to be honest," Prompto smiled.

"It's the thought that counts," he said softly pulling away from Gladio and wiping his nose on his sleeve. Ignis grimaced and grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket, before handing it over.

"Listen, kid, you've done a brave thing coming here to tell us what you told us. We've known MagiMite wasn't quite in line with the vision we have for Eos but we didn't know the extent of it. We're probably going to have a few questions for you though if that's alright?"

Prompto accepted Ignis' handkerchief graciously, blew his nose and tried to hand it back. Ignis hid his disgust and motioned for Prompto to keep it, who shrugged and pocketed it. He then nodded at Cor.

"Just don't get angry at Noct okay? He doesn't know and I know he left you guys and all but…" he took another shuddering breath but held himself together. "Thanks for listening I guess…" he trailed off.

Gladio patted him on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go find some coffee that doesn't taste like muddy water," a nod and the two men left, leaving Ignis alone with Cor and Clarus.

Cor sat back down with a sigh, he looked up at Ignis, and Ignis couldn't help but notice the lines of worry in his usually expressionless face. "Do you believe him?

"It's the first I've heard, when he called six months ago he said he wanted help getting in contact with CrystalTech, he backed out though and hung before we could get a chance to ask for more information. Then he phoned again and said they were on their way to Lucis and that he had something to tell us. We didn't say anything about the fact that we were CrystalTech until last night."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Clarus asked, gaze piercing.

"We decided it was in Noct's best interest not to. We didn't want him running away again." Clarus frowned but Cor nodded in understanding, he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"What was this hunt you went on? Is this how Noctis got hurt?"

Ignis had been hoping it wouldn't come to that. He sighed and looked at the two men he considered as his fathers, men who had been there for him his whole life. "Crestholm," he said not meeting their eyes.

Clarus stood with a growl, Cor behind him, only to place a hand back on Clarus to calm him. "Crestholm is explicitly off limits!" he hissed.

"Would you rather we let Noctis go there by himself? Gladio and I were doing our job, Gladio to protect him, myself to advise…"

"Well, you didn't do a very good job if you didn't advise against it…"

"We defeated it…" came a small voice from the doorway and the three of them looked to see Prompto holding a tray of coffee, Gladio behind him holding a brown paper bag. "And don't be mad at them because we did it together. Ardyn had told us the beast was already dead and when we got there and unlocked the seals we realised it wasn't, Gladio and Ignis didn't know what was happening and by that time it was too late, I had already fallen and Noct had to come and save me…" he was getting hysterical and Ignis stepped forward to rescue the coffees so Gladio could lead him to one of the now empty chairs.

As Gladio calmed him back down, Cor turned to Ignis. "It's defeated?"

"Yes, that's how Noctis got hurt, as it was dying it lashed it's tail out catching him in the stomach and slamming him against a wall, he lost consciousness and we brought him straight here…"

"Mr Scientia?" a man in a white coat knocked at the door and looked at the group of men standing before him.

Ignis stepped forward. "That's me, is Noctis…"

"He's still undergoing tests, we have the results back from his bloodwork though and he's clean from StarScourge," that was one worry off their shoulders, not that they had doubted it, it was just a precaution to get him tested. "We'll be bringing him back in here shortly, he hasn't woken up yet, and we won't know for sure until he does, but we think the accident might have hit a nerve from his old injury."

"What does that mean?" Prompto spoke up, and Ignis could appreciate how hard this was for him, for all of them.

"It means," the Doctor gave a shooting glance at Prompto before turning back to Ignis. "That he might not be able to walk."

* * *

 **A/N:** So we finally hear the truth! Prompto get's it all out and Cor and Clarus were there to hear it all, but now something else has emerged? What this about a previous injury? Let me know if there are any glaring plot points and I wonder did any of you see Prompto's story happening? Did you guess what was up?

Quick translation:

Mien - My (Prompto)

Ich heisse Cor und - My name is Cor and... (Cor)

Thanks for reading and until next time!


	8. Chapter 8

They'd explained, finally, why everyone was so tense. Why, when the doctor said that Noct might not be able to walk, Clarus stood up immediately and stormed out the room. Cor following close behind him, it also made sense why after a bad hunt, Noct could be found curled up in bed with ice packs on his lower back or just be in a foul mood for the majority of the day.

When Noct had been eight there'd been a daemon outbreak from the labs. CrystalTech had been trying to find a cure for StarScourge from within daemons themselves, only to have the daemon they were working on break free and go on a rampage through the building. They managed to subdue the daemon, killing it before it got a chance to cause mass damaged, however not without casualties. Noct and his mother had been visiting the labs that day, Aulea Caelum was a researcher at CrystalTech and although it had been her day off, was called in to take a look at something. She brought Noct along as well as the two of them had been at the park, only when they arrived they found the whole building on lockdown.

The casualties that Ignis had mentioned, Noct and his mother. Whilst Noct had gotten away with a deep slash to his lower back, paralyzing him from the waist down and confining him to a wheelchair for two years. His mother, unfortunately, died protecting him. Although Noct got better, through numerous surgeries he never fully recovered from the shock of what happened. His shock, that later turned to rage against his father, whom he blamed for everything.

Regis Caelum, never forgave himself for the daemon outbreak and saddened over the loss of his wife, distanced himself from Noct, throwing himself into his research. Even after his death, just before Noct's eleventh birthday, Noct still hadn't gotten over his hatred.

* * *

"I mean, he would become moody, or sit in a bath with ice cubes, but we just assumed, he twisted wrong, or slept funny," Prompto explained once Gladio had questioned how he hadn't known anything about what he'd just been told. "We don't ask questions. I've seen the scar but never asked. If Noct wanted me to know he would have told me."

Gladio just nodded, he understood in a sense. Whereas he was used to just getting answers, either by asking or looking. He understood that other people weren't the same as him. They'd been told not to ask questions, and Prompto had followed that logic, Noctis' saw this new life as a way to escape and had embraced the rule, by not supplying the information he was effectively burying his past.

Noctis had finally been brought back into the room, asleep and on medication, the doctors had said it would be best to let him sleep and forced them all out into the corridor. Gladio's dad, through some connections, had managed to let them allow one person to stay with him (Ignis) whilst everyone else went home to rest up. Which is how Gladio became a babysitter for a rather worried twenty-year-old.

Not that Prompto wasn't a handful, heck his own sister could be more of a handful than Prompto was, Gladio just didn't know what to do. Especially with his big reveal from earlier. Gladio knew without a doubt that neither he nor Ignis had expected that sort of bombshell, to hear first hand that MagiMite, forcibly injected innocent people with StarScourge to research the effects was sickening and he had no idea how Prompto was holding himself together.

Cor had given them a lift back to Gladio and Ignis' apartment, Prompto didn't look to be in the right frame of mind to drive, and Gladio still was non-the-wiser about the extra pedals and gears of a manual gearbox.

No sooner had Gladio unlocked the door and ushered Prompto inside did Prompto's phone ring. Startled, he looked apologetically at Gladio, before pressing the phone to his ear.

"Crowe?"

Gladio tried not to listen in, but if he had managed to hear a female voice, sounding relieved and then slightly panicked before the phone was passed to a slightly authoritative male voice that made all the colour drain from Prompto's face, then he wouldn't have been able to hear anything due to the fact it was all in Nifillian.

" _Ja. Aber Noct…_ "

Prompto cringed as the person on the other end of the phone yelled at him, the poor kid looked close to tears and Gladio didn't need to understand to know that whoever it was, wasn't happy.

"Lestallum? _Morgen_? Er…" He glanced helplessly at Gladio, eyes wide as he struggled with what to say.

Gladio himself was at a complete loss, and he tried to think what would Ignis say in this situation. "Whatever it is," he whispered carefully, making sure that he couldn't be overheard by the man on the phone. "We'll figure it out, we'll help."

Prompto gave a grim sort of nod, before making some sort of verbal agreement on the phone. Gladio couldn't hear what was said, the voice bringing his volume down to a respectful level, Prompto nodded again, before saying something else, a farewell, and then hung up the phone, stuffing it back into his pocket.

He sighed, either in relief or in frustration before he plonked himself down on the couch, curled his knees into his stomach and lay down, staring into space.

Taking another leaf out of Ignis book, Gladio head into the kitchen grabbed a couple of cans of Ignis' 'good stuff' before returning to Prompto. He sat gingerly on the edge of the sofa, pushing the black can into the younger man's hand.

"Don't tell Iggy, that we cracked open the good coffee," he said lightly, but Prompto merely sat up and stared at the can. "Do you want to talk about it?" Gladio pressed, not holding out much hope but still asking out of kindness more than anything.

"That was Ardyn," Prompto said to his can, and Gladio shifted slightly, waiting for Prompto to continue. "He'd been trying to call Noct, but of course he wasn't answering, so Crowe phoned me…" he trailed off and tapped his fingers on the edge of the can nervously.

"What did he want?" he was just trying to make conversation, let Prompto know that he wasn't alone. He wasn't expecting to get an answer, but Prompto seemed to be in a talkative mood, he obviously trusted them. Which, if Gladio was being honest, would help with getting Noctis trust back.

"Noct was supposed to check in after the mission, but he obviously didn't and we're meant to be heading out to Lestallum tomorrow. I tried to explain but he just yelled at me for not answering any of his calls. I don't even know where Noct's phone is," he said, his voice rising in despair. "And of course he wants us to meet a contact in Lestallum tomorrow and take up a new hunt, I mean…. Gah!" he flung his hands up in the air and ruffled up his hair in frustration.

Gladio frowned, _who does this Ardyn think he is?_ "I take it you didn't mention Noct's current position?"

"I couldn't get a word in," Prompto admitted quietly, head bowed in defeat. Gladio honestly didn't know what to do. "The contact, Calico or something, is heading to Niflheim tomorrow night so we're to meet him and give him the whiskers for… ah, shit! I didn't pick up the whiskers!" there was another frustrated groan as he flopped back on the couch, head in his hands.

"Would it help if we went back and got them?" Gladio asked slowly, it wasn't the best idea he had and if Ignis were here he'd shoot it down in an instant, come up with a better one. Now, however, in this moment, it was the only thing Gladio could think off. Prompto lifted his head, eyes wide and questioning.

"Honestly I don't want anything to do with Ardyn or MagiMite, but I know nothing good will come out of running away. We could go back and get those damned whiskers, the thing is dead so it shouldn't be hard right? Then I can take the car, go visit Caledonia - or whatever the heck his name is - hand over the whiskers and come straight back. That way Calpickle can report back that we're fine…"

"We won't let you go alone…"

"And I can't ask you to help any more than you already have…" Prompto countered just as quickly. "This is mine and Noct's problem, and with Noct hurt, I'll have to continue alone…"

"Bullshit," Gladio growled, placing a hand on the younger boys arm. He knew that if he let Prompto go back out there to meet someone from MagiMite then he would never forgive himself, Noctis would never forgive him and they needed his trust right now. Ignis would never sanction this, but Gladio also knew that if Prompto didn't go there would be more trouble on the horizon. He didn't know what had transpired during the phone conversation but he knew enough about body language and tone of voice that Prompto wasn't telling him the whole story. Lestallum was only a couple of hours away, they could be back in Insomnia before it got dark and no-one would know, especially not his father or Ignis.

"Listen here's what we're going to do. We need to get Ardyn off your back, give Noct more time to heal and if seeing this Caligo dude is the way to do that then so be it. In the morning we'll tell the others that we're going back out to Hammerhead to collect Iggy's car. Once beyond the city wall, we can go down into Crestholm, pick up those whiskers and drive to Lestallum. Meet Caligo, convince him that everything is fine and return home, with Ignis car. I'm not letting you go alone," he added when Prompto looked ready to argue. "You've done us a great favour in bring Noctis home to us, and Noct thinks highly enough of you that it's the least we can do."

* * *

After an early night and a simple breakfast of cereal and toast, the two of them were on their way back out of the city gates. Gladio had called Ignis that morning to explain what was happening. Well to explain that they'd gone to pick up the car. As predicted, Ignis wasn't that impressed but agreed that it was at least something to do to distract Prompto from thinking about Noctis. Noctis still hadn't woken up yet but the doctors had hope that it wouldn't be too long.

Getting out of the city was no problem, Ignis and Gladio's visa from before still held, so they parked up and traipsed back down into Crestholm to retrieve not only the whiskers but various pieces of weaponry that had been deserted in their haste to get Noctis to safety. Prompto also found Noctis' phone, wet, cracked and broken.

The journey to Lestallum was an almost three-hour drive and so they reached the bustling city a little afternoon. The journey had mostly been done in silence, Gladio only speaking to give quick directions based on the map he was reading. Ardyn had texted Prompto again that morning, with a time and a place to meet Caligo Ulldor, a representative of MagiMite. They were to meet him on the outlook at 1 p.m., where he would take the whiskers and give them their next hunt.

Gladio and Prompto had already vowed to not do the hunt, to just take it and head back to Insomnia, if they needed to they could come back later with more help to complete the hunt, but their objective right now was to prove to MagiMite that nothing was wrong.

"You think that's him?" Prompto whispered as a middle-aged man with dark hair strolled towards the edge of the outlook, leaning casually against the coin-operated viewfinder.

"Yes," Gladio agreed, as the man in question raised a wrist to check the time and brought out a phone. A few seconds later the Prompto's phone vibrated in his pocket.

"Hello?" he said answering the phone, his voice and hand shaking as he did. "Yes, I'm almost there. Are you standing next to the viewfinder?" He nodded as he listened before putting his phone back in his pocket and looking grimly at Gladio.

They both shared a nod, and Prompto straightened up, before heading down the slope to the main portion of the outlook. Gladio stayed hidden for a bit longer opting to instead double round and go down the west slope to reach the outlook. He'd just arrived at the top of the stairs when Prompto reached Ulldor and he was fortunately close enough to hear everything.

"Argentum?"

"Yeah, that's me," Prompto said and Gladio was impressed at how calm he sounded. "Here are the whiskers for Izunia," he handed over a zip locked bag of the dropping whiskers and Gladio was pleased to see the damn things go.

"Where's the other one?"

"Other what?"

"Izunia said there would be two of you, skinny blonde," he pointed a finger at Prompto. "And, lightly muscled raven."

"Ah, Noct's stocking up on supplies," Prompto said quickly. "We used quite a bit getting those whiskers and figured that if you were sending us on another hunt…"

"I can wait," Ulldor said suddenly and Gladio felt his blood run cold.

"What?" squeaked Prompto.

"I have orders to see both of you, can't leave without following through."

"I er... Can get him to call you? Voice is fine right?"

"Are you hiding something Argentum?" Ulldor's eyes narrowed and Prompto stepped back hesitantly. Gladio ran a hand through his hair, he was sitting at the bottom of a set of stone steps, sunglasses on, reading a book, pretending to be a normal tourist, however, he wasn't liking what was happening.

"Nope, just you know Noct's at the market, shopping." he gestured vaguely, and glanced around, gaze locking with Gladio's, the panic apparent on his face. Gladio stood up and placed his book in the side pocket of his cargo pants.

Gladio watched as Prompto took another step back, trying to make it look casual, but Ulldor grabbed a hold of his arm.

"Then show me," Ulldor growled and Prompto shook his head.

"He should be here soon, I could call him you know, just let me call him…" Gladio could see Prompto struggling against Ulldor's grip.

"He's not here, is he? You came alone," Gladio took another step forward, fighting the urge to just run over there and help. Him butting in wouldn't convince Ulldor that Noctis was at the market. As he tried to act casual, Ulldor's looked towards him. His features twisting into one of recognition. "Amicitia," he growled and Gladio swore. Ulldor turned back to the struggling Prompto, grabbing both arms and pulling him close. "Caelum went home, didn't he? I would recognise that tattoo anywhere," he jerked his head in Gladio's direction.

Gladio, having now been recognised, threw caution to the wind and stormed towards Prompto.

"I met your father once Boy," Ulldor called stopping Gladio in his tracks, allowing two other men to appear from seemingly nowhere to block his path. "He was no match for me then and I doubt you'll be no match for me now," he turned to Prompto. "Izunia warned me about this. Said that the lure to return home might prove too strong for out young heir and if that happened I was to take you as compensation."

Prompto's eyes widened as he struggled in Ulldor's grip. "No he's here, I promise, let me just call him, please!"

"Tummelt, Nox. Keep Amicitia busy," the two men, both blonde, took a step towards Gladio, blocking Gladio's view of Prompto and Ulldor. Gladio growled and tried to push past the men, but they were surprisingly strong. He could still hear Prompto promising that Noctis was only a phone call away as Ulldor dragged him away.

Gladio growled, and again tried pushed against the two men in an attempt to reach Prompto. Tummelt, the younger of the two, grinned and pushed back, but Gladio anticipated it, side-stepped and spun, pushing Tummelt into the ground, leaving only Nox standing there. Nox raised a gloved fist, pulling it back to give power to a punch that Gladio ducked under. He wrapped his arms around Nox, forcing him backwards and swinging him around before pushing him away. Nox staggered backwards, caught off balance by the bigger man's manoeuvre and subsequently tripped over Tummelt who was just trying to stand up.

Not bothering with the two of them, Gladio whirled around to see Ulldor loading, a now unmoving, Prompto into the back of a white van. Swearing loudly, he rushed up the steps towards the van, only to be pulled back sharply as someone grabbed onto his tank top. Whipping his head around, he saw that both Nox and Tummelt had gotten to their feet and were determined to stop him. Using Tummelt's hand on his shirt as leverage, Gladio turned sharply, causing Tummelt to stumble towards him. Gladio pivoted and slammed his elbow into the back of Tummelt's neck. There was a strangled cry before he crumpled to the floor. Nox stared wide-eyed, gaze flickering between Gladio and his fallen comrade before charging towards Gladio. Gladio stood his ground and when Nox charged into him, Gladio placed a hand on his chest to hold him back before thrusting his other hand upwards into Nox's nose.

Nox faltered, hands covering his nose, which gave Gladio the time he needed to run up the steps and into the car park, searching wildly for the white van, to no avail. In the time it had taken to get away from Nox and Tummelt, Ulldor and most importantly Prompto had gone.

* * *

 **A/N:** So sorry I missed a week! I started a new job last Monday and the weekend before I was busy preparing and learning lines (I'm in a play - that's my job, I'm a touring performance artist). I was going to grace you with a double feature but this weekend grandad and his girlfriend were in town, so we had to entertain (he took us shopping - not complaining there). So again sorry!

This gig I have lasts three weeks - I'll try to be better organised and stay on track, but I can't promise anything especially with Episode Ignis and Christmas.

 **Quick Translations:**

Ja. Aber Noct - Yes. But Noct

Morgen? - Tomorrow?


End file.
